John Kasich Attacks Ted Cruz in New York
PAUL: It's crunch time. The Republican National Convention three months away now, and a contested convention is on a lot of people's minds, thinking it is certainly a possibility. The candidates are fixing their gaze on New York right now with just 10 days to go before 95 delegates are up for grabs. The potential spoiler for frontrunner Donald Trump is John Kasich. The Ohio governor now going on the offensive, not against Trump, though. He is targeting Senator Ted Cruz. His new ad takes direct aim at Cruz's New York values slam.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Yorkers aren't stupid, Ted. After we were hit, we rallied, rebuilt, but remembered. So when you smear New York values in Iowa for votes, we remember that, too. Now you come here and conveniently say you love New York. Forget about it, Ted.</s>PAUL: We are going to discuss with former senator John Sununu, the New Hampshire campaign chairman for John Kasich, and Ron Nehring, the national spokesman for the Ted Cruz campaign. Gentlemen, good to have you with us. Thank you.</s>JOHN SUNUNU, NEW HAMPSHIRE CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN FOR JOHN KASICH: Good morning.</s>PAUL: Good morning. John, I'd like to start with you if I could, please. What is the strategy for Governor Kasich to target Ted Cruz right now as opposed to Donald Trump?</s>SUNUNU: This is about honesty and authenticity. John Kasich has it. Ted Cruz obviously said one thing in one place and now is trying to walk back the remark. It is also about what Ron Brownstein said, winning every vote and winning every delegate, coming in with the strongest roster of delegates you can. And at that convention one question on the delegates minds, one question they are going to be asked, who is best prepared to lead the country, and who will win? What Republican will lead the party to victory in November? And in every poll John Kasich beats Hillary Clinton. Ted Cruz loses. He loses to Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump loses to Hillary Clinton, and someone like that at the top of the ticket won't just lose the presidency. They'll lose our Republican Senate seat in New Hampshire, in Ohio, in Pennsylvania. That is why John Kasich is going to come into the convention with momentum, and that is why I think he is going to be the nominee.</s>PAUL: We should point out, Ron, that Governor Kasich is currently ahead of your candidate in New York. Are we going to see some sort of shift or push from Ted Cruz to try to turn around some of the backlash that has been given to him?</s>RON NEHRING, NATIONAL SPOKESMAN, TED CRUZ CAMPAIGN: After about 30 losses in the states by John Kasich who continues to run even behind Marco Rubio in terms of the number of delegates that he has, it is not surprising that the Kasich campaign would continue to flail around and look for some type of strategy to gain some type of momentum. But at the end of the day John Kasich is going to arrive at the convention. We presume he will stay at the race as a spoiler all the way until the end. He will arrive at the convention with the fewest number of delegates. He'll have zero momentum and he continues to run as a spoiler. In terms of our campaign, we recognize that New York state is home state territory for Donald Trump. He has the home team advantage there. We are the visiting team. And that is completely understandable. If he doesn't win his own state then that draws up a serious question. But we recognize this is a long ballgame and we organized our campaign to go all the way to the end until June 7th. That is why I became California chairman of the campaign way back in August, recognizing this process could go all the way to the end and we're ready for that.</s>PAUL: And he makes a point, John, that Governor Kasich is third in the delegate count but he is still trailing not just Donald Trump and Ted Cruz but also Marco Rubio. How do you counter that at this point when he is trailing a guy who is not even in the race any longer?</s>SUNUNU: Look, Marco Rubio failed to win a critical swing state, his home state of Florida. John Kasich won his home state, not just any state, but Ohio. And if a Republican doesn't win Ohio a Republican will not get elected be president. And frankly, Ted Cruz can't win Ohio. He can't win "News of the World". He probably can't even win Colorado. So that's critical, someone who will come into November, beat Hillary Clinton. John Kasich is the person to do that. We are also heading into states where you have pointed out John Kasich runs stronger than Ted Cruz, in New York and Pennsylvania, in Connecticut, in Rhode Island. This is a stronger area. John Kasich beat Ted Cruz in the New England states with the exception of the caucus in Maine. So I think this is an area of strength for John Kasich. He is going to win more delegates. Marco Rubio is holding his delegates in place because he doesn't want Donald Trump to be the nominee. And I think that's really smart tactically. It will be an open convention and the Ted Cruz spokesman was claiming it wouldn't be, that he was going to get a majority two or three weeks ago. That's not going to happen. It will be an open convention and those delegates are going to listen to the candidates. They are going to say who has the experience and the vision to lead the country. John Kasich has balanced budgets, cut taxes everywhere he's gone. He's never lost an election, and every poll shows him beating Hillary Clinton not just nationally but in critical swing states. And I think that's going to weigh on those delegates, and that's why I think he is going to pick up delegates on every ballot. In 1860 there was a contested convention, Abraham Lincoln came in trailing the businessman, a flamboyant guy, Seward from New York, and Lincoln pulled it out. John Kasich isn't Abraham Lincoln, but the lesson of history is wait to see how those delegates vote on the floor. And John Kasich will be the nominee and next president of the United States.</s>NEHRING: What is it with senators being on these shows and filibustering? That's kind of interesting. Does every senator who just gets on the programs and just filibusters ad infinitum? Look, John Kasich has zero momentum in this race going forward. He's purely running as a spoiler. He has no pathway to get to the nomination whatsoever, and that is the situation which we face right now. That is the reality going syndicated columnist George Will. John Kasich will not be the Republican nominee for president under any circumstances. That is purely a fantasy. He is flailing around looking for some type of strategy to change the dynamic here after losing in about 30 states. It is hard to say that someone is a more electable candidate when they have lost over and over and over again in about 30 states. It's hard to say you're the more electable candidate when you keep losing to either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.</s>SUNUNU: It is hard to say you are more electable if you get beaten by Hillary Clinton in every national poll.</s>PAUL: Gentlemen, I'm sorry, we are running out of time.</s>SUNUNU: This is about beating the Democrat.</s>NEHRING: This is a filibuster for the senator here.</s>PAUL: Thank you so much.</s>SUNUNU: You had your chance.</s>PAUL: Thank you so much. We'll have to wait and see how all of this pans out. We know polls don't always tell the full story by the time we get to it. Sometimes they do. So we appreciate hearing you voice today. Thank you for making the time for us.</s>SUNUNU: Thank you.</s>NEHRING: Thank you.</s>SAVIDGE: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are battling over who is qualified to be president. And with the New York primary just days away that war of words is getting ugly. We'll tell you what they are saying in a moment.