his wife heidi on the stage as the third republican town hall tonight at 9:00. thank you for watching "legal view." i'm pamela brown filling in for ashleigh banfield. jim sciutto is filling in for wolf and that show starts now. hello i'm jim sciutto. wolf blitzer is on assignment today. it is 1:00 p.m. in washington, 6:00 p.m. london, 9:30 p.m. in kabul. wherever you are watching around the world, thank you for joining us. we will get to hillary clinton's comments on race relations in just a moment but first donald trump escalating his fight with the republican party taking his complaints to an entirely new level. trump now accusing the republican national committee of conspiring to stop him from winning his party's nomination. the rnc chairman shooting back "give mae break." >> trump argues he has been

outmaneuvered in the fight in louisiana and colorado. here's what he told anderson cooper on a cnn town hall last night. >> the colorado thing was very, very unfair. i thought louisiana was unfair. i won louisiana. i won it easily. >> the popular vote. >> because of all the shenanigans that goes on. >> shenanigans. those are the rules. >> i know the rules very well. i know it is stacked against me and by the establishment. i fully understand it. we had people out there and they weren't heard. they disenfranchise the voters. they disenfranchise all of the voters. >> you are saying i don't want the rnc wants you to get the nomination? >> i don't think so. >> do you think they are actively working on it. >> i don't see it. i don't have 15 miles of proof. >> reince priebus was quick to respond with the tweet "nomination process known for a year and beyond. it's the responsibility of the campaigns to understand it.

complaints now? give us all a break. phil mattingly is joining us from new york. is trump, in effect, preparing his public case, if there is a contested convention? >> yeah, no question about it. i think what you are seeing is the trump campaign looking forward and seeing a map, at least on the primary level, that looks good for him over the next couple of weeks. an opportunity to rack up delegates. his message, the party being against him, of the establishment being against him is one that will help to rally voters in those states. the reality is the relationship between the trump campaign and the republican national committee has been tense at best, nonexist tenlt at worst. this is not helping. if you talk to officials at the republican national committee they viewed the candidacy warily for a while and all it is doing is adding to frustration. as anderson cooper pointed out

the rules have been in place for a long period of time. it is on the trump campaign to figure those out. they are out maneuvered by ted cruz is the trump campaign's fault, not the rnc's fault. >> when you talk to the campaign, is it their math they will reach a majority, the magic number before the convention? >> they believe they have a pathway to get to that point. when you look at how things are playing out, particularly in states like colorado, north dakota, or perhaps wyoming coming up in the days ahead, donald trump needs to secure that number before cleveland or he could be in big trouble on a second or third ballot. if you look at the states ahead, starting with new york, 95 delegates here. maryland, pennsylvania, rhode island, places where donald trump is polling good right now, his team feels there is a pathway to that 1237 number preconvention, but if you watch, jim, what ted cruz and john kasich are doing, not just here in new york but in those states going forward all the way to california on june 7th, it is all about keeping delegates away from donald trump. even if they can't beat him in

the states keeping him under the 1237 number. getting him to cleveland not the nominee is the big fight right now and that's what we will see play out the weeks ahead. >> phil mattingly in new york with the trump campaign. senator ted cruz's comments about trump's complaints, he calls trump a sore loser. tonight, cruz and his wife heidi will take questions from voters in our latest cnn town poll. we are joined live from erie, pennsylvania. it seems cruz seems to be answering trump's lying ted with sore loser don. what is cruz saying today about donald trump? >> that's right. it senator cruz seems to be trying to capitalize on this moment where donald trump is really complaining about the gop nominating system at large. as the race moves toward a hunt for the dlkts we have seen cruz

in recent days try to pick a bit at his vulnerability of donald trump. he said, look, donald trump is someone who has based his whole campaign on being mastery of issues in business, a business model so to speak and saying his campaign has proven they can't run a lemonade stand. that's a quote from senator cruz who talked about this yesterday in a radio interview with glenn beck. here's more of what he had to say. >> donald is a sore loser. he doesn't handle losing well. he throws a fit. he is crying and screaming and yelling and he insults people and curses at people and he attacks people. donald loves to call people a loser. donald wakes up at night in cold sweats that people will call him losin' donald. >> there you see senator cruz. you hear him saying that, giving him a new label, losin' donald

and trying to paint donald trump as someone whose campaign is on a downward slope and his campaign, who senator cruz likes to play up that they have shown a mastery of the delegate selection process and ability to navigate the rules. senator cruz seems to be playing that side up in recent days and making a small shift but important shift indicating now more than ever that he thinks the campaign could go to a contested convention. the same radio interview with him saying he believes the odds are high this will go to a contested convention them cruz campaign feels very good going in to that contested convention, especially if it goes to second ballot. that's where they feel strong. >> cruz is campaigning in pennsylvania and not new york. polls not looking great for him in new york. is his campaign writing off the new york primary? >> well, absolutely. the polls are not good for senator cruz in new york. he is in third place as it

stands right now. they are not -- their plan is to go over small pockets where they could pick up support from donald trump, more rural areas of new york is what they have been focusing on in recent days. overall goal is to pick delegates away from trump and keep him away of the threshold. he is above the threshold of 50% but recently his campaign manager, ted cruz's campaign manager set a high bar for donald trump in new york state, like the other candidates if they can't win their home state in dramatic fashion, that's wa he said, above 50% they should drop out. wishful thinking on the part of the cruz campaign but certainly an effort from them. setting the expectations and the bar high for donald trump in new york. >> thank you very much. we hope to get a more personal side of ted cruz when he and his wife heidi take part in a cnn

town hall tonight. in a fox interview, heidi cruz dismissed allegations of her husband from a tabloid magazine and defended herself against donald trump's threat to "spill the beans on her." >> as so many things that donald trump says and engages in have no basis in reality. i know my track record and life record pretty well. didn't bother me a bit. i think a lot of things he throws out that have no basis in reality are garbage. this is another example of donald trump engaging in politics and using henchmen to destroy others when he is losing. >> we will see more of ted and heidi cruz in our town hall tonight. i want to bring in the panel to talk about the gop race. senior adviser to anti-trump pac. scottie nell hughes is a trump surrogate. if i can begin with you, you

heard the criticism from the cruz campaign. let's be fair, donald trump is as he reminds us often all about the "art of the deal" and how he can get the best deal and negotiate it. do his complaints the system is rigged against him and that's the only reason he lost to states like colorado. doesn't that fight the narrative that he can always make it work, no matter what is against him? >> i think she making it work. he is still in first place and has been since he announced back in june. to the idea of heidi cruz say now he is losing. she far from looing. she winning in delegates and popular vote and every single front. on these individual states where the ground games are important, what it is proving is senator ted cruz is the establishment. he's the one -- everything he campaigned up against saying he is a conservative and a voice of the people, he is now proving he's not. >> why does having a ground game prove that you are just a member of the establishment?

a ground game is a fact of life when you are running for president. >> i agree. and he's done a great job, as we saw in colorado. what we are finding out is he started the ground game almost a year ago. perhaps approximately a year and a half ago. he bate coalition, where it is a chess game more than listening to the voice of the people. these folks, the same votes that put mr. trump at the top. they are tired of the status quo washington, d.c. politicians. it proves ted cruz is more of one than anyone expected from the beginning. >> i want to ask you, you hear the donald trump complaint. really the accusation that the party doesn't want him. the fact is there are many establishment republicans who don't like him. you have the never trump movement going. one is -- which you are involved in. is there some truth so what donald trump is saying that the quote unquote establishment is

doing everything it can to keep him from having the majority when we get to the convention this summer? >> here's what is wrong about what donald trump is saying. it proves rank and file grassroots republicans don't like donald trump. your party regulars, the volunteers, the people that show up to party conventions and caucuses. what scottie is describing that ted cruz has done is run a campaign, run a ground game. that's what we will need to beat hillary clinton. donald trump has been completely incapable of demonstrating he can do that. his campaign has absolutely no organization. that's just one of a myriad of problems he has in the general election.scottie, i have to giva chance to respond. >> he is not a politician. hery re lies on a person's vote to get them in office. maybe that's why we have continued to lose as republicans and lost washington, d.c.

because those folks believe if they play a better game they get elected rather than listening to the people they are supposed to represent. that's what is wrong with the republican party and politics today and why people don't trust either one. >> what you are describing is donald trump's whole brand. he said he is a great negotiate and tweeted this fake albert einstein quote about how you learn the rules of the game and win at the game within the rules. donald trump was uncapable of doing that. when it came to hearing the voice of the people, last year when we were discussing whether or not colorado would have a primary vote, jeb bush's campaign and the establishment is the one that wanted a primary vote and a larger vote. donald trump was nowhere to be seen. so, all of these cry baby complaints after it is over are just part of his spin. it's not going to work. >> scottie, i want to come to you because the never trump pac is out with a new ad that accuses donald trump of accepting money that was meant to help small businesses after

9/11. let's look at a short clip and get you to respond. ♪ >> playing money made available to help small byes. this gets right to donald trump, first of all, it is very close to the heart of new yorkers. i'm a new yorker, as well. of course donald trump has talked about 9/11 often before. how damaging is this ad do you think? >> i don't think it is very damaging because once again it is coming from an organization that the pure goal is negative. everything that comes out about them is to be negative and tear down the people, insult folks and tear down a candidate who happens to represent millions of people right now. i wish that people like the never trump group would talk about the positive side and why it is great to be an american and why they would support -- they offer problems but never solutions them ad is skewed, definitely spun. it has taken numbers that have

nothing to do with mr. trump and created it and just meant to create more turmoil and never give a solution, which is what the never trump campaign is all about. >> that isn't our group's ad. she didn't respond the substance of the complaint which is that donald trump took a $150,000 grant that was supposed to go to victims of 9/11. small businesses that were victims of 9/11. he wasn't one. he wasn't a small business. he took the $150,000 any way. this is what he has done throughout his life is take money to enrich himself rather than worry about regular people. >> we will have to leave it there. >> real quick it was not donald trump that took that money. it was an organizationing under him, one of his many businesses that he started that appoint people. it was not donald trump. >> so his organization. >> one of the organizations underhis -- >> we will have to leave it there. thank you for taking the time. watch cnn for the final gop town

hall event. senator ted cruz and his wife talking to anderson cooper and taking questions from new york voters. that is tonight at nooip here on cnn. coming up, hillary clinton courting the african-american vote with a speech in front of civil rights activists. can she reverse the criticism she received for a comedy skit dubbed "racially insensitive"? bernie sanders hitting the verizon picket line. will the move resonate as he tries to catch clinton in the delegate race? and details of his first senate endorsement. that's after this. ♪ some people know how to make an entrance. ♪ to thrive under pressure. ♪ to reject the status quo. and they have no problem passing the competition. the aggressive new 2016 lexus gs 350

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hillary clinton is in new york speaking at the national action's 25th anniversary national convention. moments ago, she detailed her plan to target investment to african-american communities. >> now we need a truly comp hence i ha comprehensive approach.

we will empower communities of color and places where unemployment and poverty remain high. >> joining me is democratic congressman the chairman of the congressional black caucus and clinton supporter. thank you for joining us. >> so, hillary clinton has had a string of losses here, smaller states. she's ahead in the polls in new york. how much does she need new york, not so much in the delegate count because we know of her substantial need there, but in terms of the narrative of ending the losing streak? >> let's be clear. comparing the stakes of which we say she lost and new york and the states in which she won, they are large, diverse, they are also states where you have primaries, bernie sanders wins when it is caucuses. so this is tremendously different. i think as you get to new york and maryland, pennsylvania, diverse, large, primary states

clearly hillary wins and wins big. i think that's what you will see in the next few days. >> the last several days, the clinton campaign has had some difficulty, embarrassing moments with the african-american community, bill clinton shouting down the black lives matter protesters which he apologized for and then this awkward joke using a racial despairing comment. i don't need to repeat the joke. first of all, why? and second of all, what does clinton have to say now? what does the african-american community need to hear from hillary clinton to put this behind her? >> it is in a parody which folks playing all kinds of games and it's supposed to be a comedy, people talking about one another. the mayor of the city of new york is already said that he was -- he didn't write the skit but approved it and so it was in

context of that. so you have to look at the perspective. >> the campaign is hands on. i have to think they were shown the script of that joke as well. >> i'm going by what the mayor said. the mayor was clear on that. i think the african-american people are looking at hillary's racquet and what she is willing to do. what she talked about at the action network. when you talk about her as a senator, people forget that it was hillary clinton, you know, back when she was running for the senate, it was rio de janeiro -- rudy giuliani going against her. and talking about how we would end racial profiling and revive the criminal justice system. hillary clinton stood strong against rudy giuliani you have to remember that. african-american community remembers the fact that it was

hillary care before we got to obamacare and when they stopped it then she continued to fight to get 8 million children health care. it was hillary clinton that has been with us as we go around the country and try to elect more members to the black caucus, democrats, et cetera so we can have power, not only in the presidency but also in the senate and the house. which helps move the agenda forward that will help the african-american community. >> they will focus on those issues not on moments like this. i want to ask you about the tone in the democratic race. it got dirty between clinton and sanders and they seemed to have declare a truce for 24 hours a then got rough again. what tone do you expect tomorrow night? i would hope the senator sanders doesn't use the republican talking points anymore. that's what he has been doing. senator clinton is so good that the republicans -- some of this came out when congressman mccarthy, it slipped. he might have been speaker today

had he not slipped and told the truth that the republicans came up with the benghazi committee to try to discredit hillary clinton and couldn't do that. when they had the hearing she showed every, after 11 grueling hours that she was a competent, strong, well organized, thoughtful person. i hope that the republican talking points that mr. sanders has a been utilizing recently that he du not use it in the debate and stick to what he said initially, let's talk about the issues that are important. >> final question before we go. chances of a contested convention on the democratic side? will hillary clinton have a majority by the convention? >> i think it is clear. she's a clear winner in the delegates. unity with the super delegates. i think it is funny because initially bernie sanders is now concerned. hillary will be the pledged and

super delegates and i hope mr. sanders comes on board and we have unified democratic party because the real enemy, but the opposition is mr. cruz or mr. trump or whoever the republican nominee is. >> thank you very much for coming on. >> my pleasure. bernie sanders gets slighted by a new york tabloid ahead of the state's primary. coming up, what impact could it have as he tries to close the gap with hillary clinton in new york? olay regenerist renews from within... plumping surface cells for a dramatic transformation -without the need for fillers. your concert tee might show your age...your skin never will. olay regenerist. olay. ageless.

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this was the scene when bernie sanders picketed with union workers to show support as he landed two new endorsements. earlier this morning he was endorsed by a major new york transit union. the union represents 40,000 transport workers in the city. topping off all of that is sanders first senate endorsement, senator jeff merkley said he is supporting him for president. he spoke to manu raju in the last hour. >> i'm endorsing bernie because he's been in the battlefield. fighting the issues in a way i think is the boldest most powerful. >> joining me to discuss this new show of support for sanders, cnn political commentator and democratic strategist donna

brazile and political anchor at time warner cable news errol lewis. donna, if i can start with you, we know sanders winning eight of the last nine contests. he picked up two endorsements including one from the senate and one from a powerful union. how much momentum is this and how much of a worry should it be for the clinton camp? >> first of all, let me say, i'm a neutral super delegate. i would hope these endorsements the kind of support that senator sanders has across the country will enable to get him what he needs from new york. that said, this is a state that secretary clinton carried back in 2008. very, very contested primary against then senator barack obama. new york is very, very important for both candidates because it's just the sheer number of delegates, 247 delegates. so i'm sure that they are going to continue to rally support across this wonderful state and

we're going to have a good turnout next tuesday. >> on the other side, hillary clinton's powerful endorsement from the new york daily news newspaper, the paper says clinton will be better for the working class, middle class and calls sanders "a fan tatacist." . you are a new york journalist and have been around a long time. how important is the endorsement for clinton? >> i spent six years on the editorial board of the new york daily news. i think the world of my former colleague and think they will have impact. there are people who in the closing days will look to endorsements. that's where the transport workers union comes in and where the daily news comes in and people who are the late-breaking voters, the folks who have been watching from a distance and have to make up their mind will

be influenced by places like the new york daily news which has a couple million readers in the new york area. the decision of the paper to really try to intervene and build on what had been a revealing set of interviews. did one with bernie sanders and one with hillary clinton. they published transcripts of the interviews and invited readers to conclude, as they concluded that up to two, that senator clinton is more along the lines of what they like to see and the quote that you put out suggests they are looking for somebody that is a realistic candidate that can do what they consider what's possible under their current circumstances in washington. >> i have to ask you, donald trump got not quite -- rather, donald trump got not quite an endorsement but a word of support from a surprising corner, donald trump. i want to play a clip of what he said last night on cnn. >> i'm no fan of bernie sanders. i'm no fan at all.

to me, he's forget it. but every time i turn it on, he's winning, every week after week he wins, wins, wins and i watch you and all of the pundits and they say but he can't win. you know why? it is stacked against him. it really is. in his case it is super delegates. in my case it's the obvious. >> donna, that may seem like an outlandish connection but there's something to it. people have made the observation that there's something of a similar anger or frustration driving sanders and trump supporters, anger with the establishment in water, whatever party you are talking about. is that a wise connection for donald trump to make in advance of the primary? >> i respectfully disagree with mr. trump for obvious reasons the rules have been published for years, both on the democratic and republican side. all of the candidates had an opportunity to weigh in on the rules. supporters had an opportunity weigh in on the rules.

i'm on the rules committee for think democratic national convention. i have been on the rules committee for 20 years. if that makes me a part of the establishment, than i know fanny lou hamlynn is smiling from heaven and making sure we have a fair process, a process that allows everybody to have a seat at the table. senator sanders is a super delegate as a result of running as a presidential candidate. i wish him the best. he energized so many people and registered new voters and fulfilling this promise of dr. king to make the system work for everybody. is it rigged? it is rigged and let me tell you why. ask the voters in arizona if it is rigged when they have to stand in line five hours to cast a ballot. ask people in north carolina when they have to bring multiple forms of i.d. to vote. ask people in texas if it is rigged because they have a hunting license and can vote but not a student listen. so you are right it is rigged

but what are you going to do to make sure no american is turned around when they go to vote? that's what we do to make democracy work for everybody. not when you decide to run for president and not read the rules and understand how to get delegates to support your campaign, track them and do maintenance. that's how you run for president. that's how you win. which i'm sure mr. donald trump knows because he's winning so something must be working for him. >> donna brazile, leave it there with that empassioned call. thank you for joining us, as always. a reminder we are one day away from the cnn democratic debate in brooklyn, new york, see hillary clinton and bernie sanders in their last faceoff before the democratic new york primary. coming up, there are new warnings that al-qaeda is once again thriving in afghanistan. how the terror group has been able to expand its presence and the growing concerns about a partnership with the taliban. that's right after this. you both have a

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our most advanced formula for joint health and comfort. cosamin -- proven by more research than any leading joint supplement. there are new warnings today about the continuing threat from al-qaeda. afghanistan's acting defense minister telling cnn the terror group is "very active within his country's borders." this is as the u.s. deputy commander said the defense officials are revising their estimates of al-qaeda's strength upwards. cnn's nick paton walsh is reporting from kabul, afghanistan. >> reporter: remember why the united states came to afghanistan? well, al-qaeda are back and thriving. a big threat finding safe haven here according to afghanistan's

defense chief. even u.s. officials here admit at the moment they don't know and there could be hundreds of al-qaeda members here. >> they are very active. they are working organizing and preparing themselves. they are working and giving them the support and the experience they had in different places. they are not talking too much. they are not making too many statements. it is a big threat. >> a big threat, they say, because the taliban who is said to have regretted harboring bin laden decided to get close to al-qae al-qaeda. >> they are enable aing the al-qaeda and isil. >>. >> because as you know they need the fighters, support, experience and recruitment from other places.

>> reporter: alarms were raised by a 30 square mile camp found obliterated by afghan and u.s. forces in a remote part of kandahar last year, revealing al-qaeda's true strength to u.s. and afghanistan officials. >> very sophisticated, ties back in to al-qaeda. and a subset, which is called al-qaeda indian, to find them in afghanistan caused us concern. if you go back to last year, there were a lot of intel estimates that said within afghanistaning, al-qaeda probably has 50 to 100 operators or 50 to 100 operators in afghanistan. one camp, we found more than 150. so i think that -- >> a gap. >> i think there is. i think there's not thousands of them, but clearly in remote

parts of afghanistan, there are al-qaeda leaders we are concerned about and what they are capable of doing. >> they are plotting attacks against the west? >> absolutely. >> that's their core concern? >> that is the core concern. they have made the announcements and never backed off. >> reporter: there's another spin off and that has potentially enormous impact on what is a key tenet of u.s. and afghan policy here with the taliban and that is to find a diplomatic or negotiated settlements with them. they are clear, the u.s. and afghanistan, they can't happen until the taliban renounce international terrorism. but it seems quite the opposite is happening with this renewed partnership they have with al-qae al-qaeda. they have made the new deputy of the al-qaeda, who the u.s. consider the leading facilitator of al-qaeda in afghanistan. it seems the taliban and al-qaeda are getting closer rather than further apart.

but some insist there are a moderate taliban that want a peaceful settlement. but there's a taliban expansion in the territory they control here. and more space for al-qaeda to potentially splot attacks outside of afghanistan and again find themselves safe havens here. 15 years after the u.s. intervened, trying to catch bin laden. nick paton walsh, cnn, kabul. >> coming up, ted cruz and his family in the spotlight tonight at the cnn town hall. will his wife bring out his softer side? that's right after this.

last night at the cnn town hall, donald trump with his entire family on stage showed something of a softer side from his angry tweets. >> i wanted to be a baseball player. i wanted to make movies. i had a lot of different ambitiouses i was as growing up. >> do you write all your own tweets. >> i would say yes. >> he is not the guy that sets you done on his knee and says this is how you do business. you learn by watching. he will let you make the mistake and you will pay for it.

>> i have a wonderful family. it's been important to me. i think it's been a stabilizing factor. i don't think i would have the kind of success without my family. >> tonight is senator ted cruz's turn. he will be joined on stage by his wife heidi. will we see more of a personal side of ted cruz. i'm joined by a ted ted cruz supporter and executive president of the family leader. bob, obviously intentioned tonight to get more personal for the candidate, particularly with the new york primary coming up. but let's just remind voters of the stakes and the numbers stacked against him. if you look at the latest polling in new york, ted cruz kurnl currently polling in third, well hyped donald trump. when you look at the upcoming contests, pennsylvania, and connecticut, and maryland, these are all places where donald trump has a big lead. what does ted cruz -- what is ted cruz able to do to turn this around? >> well, i think what he has to do is keep doing what he is doing. that is stay on message of jobs,

freedom, security. those things are resonating with the voters. i think tonight' forum is going to be another chance for him to showcase who he is. you will see his heart. heidi is a great potential first lady. she's a definite asset to him. so i think the viewers are going to be very, very pleased what they see with the cruz family tonight. i'd say for ted cruz, be relaxed. stay on message. he's in a good position to get to that 1237 either before cleveland or i think after cleveland. >> i want to ask you, you know donald trump as well although of course you are supporting ted cruz. you must have been on donald trump's mind in the last 24 hours. just listen to what he had to say at rally. >> we've had so many great endorsements with governor christie and with sarah palin, and with everybody. vander plats -- our friend bob vander plats from liberty university. >> obviously, he didn't mean,

you meant jerry falwell of liberty university. what do you think of that slip? is that a problem for him? does it show that he doesn't know exactly who that endorser was or doesn't know them well enough? >> well, it's hard for me to crawl into donald's mind and figure out what he is thinking or what he is saying. i think it does go back to the judgment issue, the temperament issue. you know -- i mean there are series thing at stakes in this campaign. i think and we need serious leaders today to address the serious issues. that's why i'm backing ted cruz and i will stay loyal to ted cruz. >> final question before we let you go, is a contested convention -- does ted cruz believe that's good for the republican party? >> well, you know, i don't know in it's good for the republican party or not. i think what we need to do is threat process play out. if you don't get to 1237 before cleveland someone has to get to 1237 at cleveland. those are the rules of the game, those are well laid out.

ted cruz and his campaign have run an excel on the campaign and a very smart strategy to try to get to 1237 before cleveland. if it doesn't happen, let's to it at cleveland. i think the big unifier, jim, is going to be hillary clinton. when she is the nominee we will be united around ted cruz coming out of cleveland. and i think we have a great chance at victory in november. >> long way to go in the contest. bob vander plats with the cruz campaign. thanks for coming on. the town hall with ted cruz and his wife heidi that's on at 9:00 eastern time here on cnn. coming up, the all out brawl to court delegates before the republican convention in july. is it actually legal to win them over with expensive gifts?

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shoshow me more like this.e. show me "previously watched." what's recommended for me. x1 makes it easy to find what you love. call or go online and switch to x1. only with xfinity. ted cruz's win in colorado has donald trump reeling against what he calls a rigged system. trump has accused the cruz campaign of bribing delegates

with, quote goodies. and now with a potential contested convention looming, the road to cleveland could be paved with more and more gifts. cnn's tom foreman explains what is actually allowed, and what's not. >> reporter: in the republicans get to the a contested convention, and if nobody wins on the first two ballots, virtually every bell dat out here on the floor would become unbounds, meaning he or she could vote as they pleased. some believe that could create a yard sale for delegates. what to we mean? well, any given delegate showing up here who know what the rules are. the rules say they cannot subpoena any gifts from corporations or from foreign nationals or from federal contractorors. those are all no nos. but the rules say they can accept gifts from political pacs and from individuals. so if a political pac says you know what, we are supporting one candidate and we'd like to give

you first class travel here and a limousine ride to a lavish hotel where we will petit put you and up and give you fancy meals -- not trying to buy your vote, just trying to show how much candidate so-and-so appreciates you. what you have a donor, who says i'd like to throw in a gift bag, nice snacks, a designer watch, headphones or a new tablet computer. tickets to a ball game or some show you would like to see. again, under the national rules, all of that would be okay. there may be local rules in the state that keep him from doing it. again, it's direct buying or selling of a vote. after all some will say what these people really want is access to the candidates a chance to visit somebody. even that might go better if you said come on we'll discuss the issues over a round of golf at some exclusive club or maybe all the delegates should go away with this candidate to the bahamas for the weekend to

discuss all the issues. the bottom line is, the party doesn't want to see this happen. the campaigns are suggesting they don't want to see it happen. but the rules say it's okay. some say there could be supporters out there who may yet want to push a free set of kasich steak knives or maybe a cruz cruise, or maybe even a trump helicopter tour to win over those last delegate votes. >> that's it for me now. thank you for watching. the news continues right now. here we go. thank you for being with me. i'm brooke baldwin. you of course where watching cnn. drurch is now at war with the republican party officially. his rage against the party machine has developed into an attack against the party leader the chairman of the republican