. >> cnn's sara murray has the latest. >> reporter: if donald trump was smarting from the loss in wisconsin, you could not tell we he was on the campaign trail in bethpage, new york. he drew the crowd of 10,000 people before the fire marshal closed the doors. he was pumped up laying into his rival, ted cruz. >> lying head cruz came today. he couldn't draw 100 people. i'm telling you. in fact, a big headline today in "the new york post." he couldn't draw 100 people. now, do you remember -- do you remember -- do you remember during the debate when he started lecturing me on new york values like we're no good. >> reporter: it's clear that donald trump has decided cruz's dig against new york values will play differently now trump is in his home state. cruz has a bit of turmoil playing out. a power struggle with his campaign manager and another brought in for strategy. could there be a campaign shake up afoot? we will tell with time. >>> he is clarifying the attacks on new york values. cruz turned the accusation back around on trump. slamming his past support for democratic politicians. >> let's

i want to bring in sara murray at the trump rally tonight. what's happening there? >> well, this is donald trump's third stop of the day here in wisconsin. this one was interesting. he brought his wife melania trump up on stage. you heard a little bit of a clip of that. and trump is coming off of a rocky week. he had the slip-ups on abortion, suggesting maybe women deserved to be punished if they got an abortion illegally. melania came up on stage and said whenever anyone hits trump, he hits back ten times hartder but that he treats people equally, whether they are men or women. clearly the trumps banding together and hoping that maybe she'll show a softer side of her husband, something maybe women aren't seeing from him on the campaign trail. >> sara, there's a new article by "new york" magazine suggesting that he wears a bulletproof vest. what is the campaign saying about that? >> well, don, the campaign is being tight lipped about this. secret service is really careful not to talk about the specifics of any kind of security they are providing to any candidate. i

we have sara murray with the trump campaign in wisconsin with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, john and cristina. trump held three campaign events yesterday. for trump, it was back to basics. coming off a rocky week, he decided to focus on the gop opponents. he hit ted cruz hard and went after john kasich calling him to step aside. >> he takes my votes away more than cruz. i don't like it. i don't think it's right. i don't think it's appropriate. you know what? if we have to live with him, we still beat him. >> reporter: he brought reinforcements on the campaign trail. he was joined by his wife melania trump. >> as you know by now, when you attack him, he will punch back ten times harder. no matter who you are, a man or woman, he treats everyone equal. he's a fighter. and if you elect him to be your president, he will fight for you and for our country. >> reporter: back to you, john and cristina. >>> ted cruzs also predicting victory today and he has the polls on his side. a cruz win in wisconsin would significantly increase the odds of a contested republican convention which c

let's bring in sara murray with the trump campaign. >> reporter: good morning, john and michelle. donald trump is not backing down on the criticism of the republican nominating process. he stumbled in colorado and louisiana. speaking here in albany to a crowd of thousands, he suggested to them the system is rigged. >> so we have a rigged system. in colorado, they were going to vote. you is saw what's happening in colorado. one of the big things. it's a fix. because we thought we were having an election and a number of months ago they decided to do it by, you know what, right? right? they said we'll do it by delegate. they will do it by delegate. it's not nice. the delegates were all there all waiting. the head guy. in fact, one of them tweeted out today or said today by mistake something to the effect, see, never trump. look what we did. if i go to the voters of colorado, we win colorado. so it's a crooked system. >> reporter: the reality is when donald trump was up against ted cruz in louisiana, he did win, but narrowly. to see ted cruz out organize him behind the scenes in the s

more from sara murray. >> good morning, lynda and john. yesterday was a big day for the rnc. adding new political operatives and they got one piece of good news. corey lewandowski will not be prosecuted for battery with michelle fields. the prosecutor will not move forward with charges in the incident. this is when fields said she was grabbed by corey lewandowski and pulled back and he left bruises. this removes another distraction for the trump campaign. they are trying to bring in new, more seasoned political operatives. so far, none of this extends to a friendlier tone with the rnc. last night in pittsburgh, trump said the process was rigged. >> in colorado, they are picketing and going wild because the bosses and establishment and the people that shouldn't have this power took all of the power away from the voters. think of it. you beat somebody badly with the people because it's a rigged system, folks. the republican system is a rigged system. >> reporter: now we're seeing reince priebus defending the nominating process. >> the rules are there. i know people get frustrat

first to sara murray inside the trump event in long island. sara, give us a sense of the energy inside. donald trump sure seemed into it tonight. >> yeah, that's right, john. if donald trump was upset about losing wisconsin, he wasn't letting on. he seemed very energetic. you saw it there in his dramatic reading of "the snake." he was really into it. this really felt like a hometown crowd. they were responsive to him. screaming, cheering for him throughout his speech. it's worth noting about 10,000 people inside per the fire marshall. they shut the doors and didn't let the entire crowd in. so certainly feels like here in the room like the polls are right n donald trump has an edge in his home state. >> the crowd did seem to eat it up inside as we were watching from here. the reason we were asking is because donald trump was quiet all day. extremely quiet for donald trump. mostly kept off twitter. no phone interview after phone interview. is that going to be some kind of different trump we might see? >> yeah, i think that was kind of a rare day

. >> cnn political reporter sara murray is with the trump campaign in wisconsin. she has the latest. >> reporter: good morning, john and cristina. trump spent his last hours barnstorming the state. he held three events yesterday and for trump, it was back to basics. he decided to focus on basics. he hit ted cruz and went after john kasich calling him to step aside and get out of the race. >> he takes my votes away more than cruz. i don't like it. i don't think it's right. you know what? if we have to live with him, we still beat him easily. >> reporter: now he also brought reinforcements on the campaign trail. here in milwaukee, he was joined by melania trump. >> as you may know by now, when you attack him he will punch back ten times harder. no matter who you are, a man or a woman, he treats everyone equal. he's a fighter and if you elect him to be your president, he will fight for you and for our country. >> reporter: back to you. >> sara, thanks so much. let's break down the vote in wisconsin. what it means for both parties. we are joined by political reporter

sara murray is live. he's acting like the nomination is his, really, when it comes to the convention. >> reporter: that's right, jim. he's certainly not the republican nominee and i may not be the nominee when he winds up in cleveland but he sounds awfully confident about being able to hold sway about what goes on at the convention in cleveland and certainly sounded confident today here in new york. here in the big apple, donald trump can almost taste victory. >> we love this city. you look at the other folks that are running, they couldn't careless about new york. >> reporter: hours ahead of the new york primary, trump appears poised for a big night. >> the polls are what they are. they were bond anything that anybody has seen. >> reporter: but his rivals keep hammering the front-runner. today, ted cruz already moving on to maryland. >> maryland is a battleground. maryland is going to have an outsized voice as the nation is looking to maryland to decide, do we nominate donald trump and happened the elect

cnn political reporter sara murray joining us from outside trump tower in manhattan. how's the trump campaign feeling about its chances tonight? >> reporter: well, wolf, the trump campaign feels very confident going into tonight. they think it's possible they could sweep all five states and come away with a number of delegates and that's the kind of momentum that will help them going forward. they think after tonight, they can really make the argument that ted cruz and john kasich have been mathematically eliminated and it's time for the party to rally behind trump and hope that that momentum could be the kind of thing that even gives them a boost in places like indiana, where it might be a tougher run for tramp thump te five states today. >> kasich and cruz campaigns trying to prevent trump from reaching enough delegates to win the nomination. trump has more to say. >> reporter: he has not had any campaign events but vocal on the campaign trail yesterday. calling ted cruz and john kasich pathetic, losers, even hitting john kasich on his eating habits. what do we hear

let's bring in sara murray with the trump campaign. >> reporter: good morning.sm of the republican delegate process. speaking here in albany to a crowd of thousands, he suggested to them, the system is rigged. >> so we have a rigged system. in colorado, they were going to vote. you saw what's happening in colorado. it's a fix because we thought we were having an election and a number of months ago they decided to do it by you know what, right? right? they said we'll do it by delegate. they said they would do it by delegate. isn't that nice? if i go to the voters of colorado, we win colorado. so it's a crooked, crooked system. >> reporter: the reality is when donald trump was up against ted cruz in louisiana, he did win, but only narrowly. only to see ted cruz able to out organize him behind the scenes in the state conventions. that is something the trump campaign is hoping to rectify with staff exchange. trump gave us a preview of the general election message hitting hillary clinton from the stump here in new york. >> i don't think the e-mails will take her down

sara murray is live for us in evansville indiana, where trump spoke this afternoon. chief strategist john weaver tweeted, "i can't stand liars" and presumably he's talking about cruz? >> reporter: jake that seems like a safe bet. i think what you're seeing from the cruz campaign is them trying anything they can to get over the hump at indiana and they are doing this while the trump campaign feels very confident about how they stand just days out, of course that didn't stop donald trump from trying to land a couple more blows against ted cruz as he was campaigning here in evansville here this afternoon. ♪ donald trump is hoping to finish off ted cruz in the hoosier state. >> if cruz sneezes, if he just sneezes, his people leave him. believe me. he's known as a liar so we came up with lyin. >> the odds of stopping trump from clinching the nomination is slim to none. all as cruz brushes aside his criticism of the latest ploy choosing carly fiorina as a running mate before anyone has won the nomination. >> donald trump yells, screams, curses or insults. i suppose you can

let's start off with sara murray who's in new york covering the trump campaign. donald trump in wisconsin talking about how it felt right to him. it felt like new hampshire, it felt like south carolina, places where he won. but behind the scenes, his senior adviser is setting a different kind of expectations. >> reporter: yeah, that's absolutely right, jake. they have been lowering expectations and part of that is because in wisconsin, they have faced, you know, this anti-trump movement and this anti-trump movement isn't planning on stopping. they are vowing to go all the way to the convention. one of the things that we are learning is leaders of an anti-trump superpac were actually in new york today where they were holding private meetings with high-dollar donors and with business leaders. the point of these meetings is to try to ensure that they have the resources they need to take this fight all the way to the convention in cleveland and try to prevent donald trump from clinching the nomination. now, one of the things they are trying to do tonight in wisconsin

sara murray is at the trump event in milwaukee. trump about to take the stand. his wife melania is going to join him there as well? >> that's right, anderson. we're expecting melania to join donald trump on the campaign trail which is significant because she hasn't come out that often but part of his rocky week has been his image among female voters, especially in his back and forth on abortion and suggesting that maybe women deserve to be punished if they get abortions if that's made illegal. he walked that back. if melania trump joins him on stage, it will be interesting if she speaks on his behalf. if he tries to use his wife to soften his image out of the wisconsin primary. >> trump admitted last week may not have been his best. how much damage control has the campaign been trying to do? >> i think it's less damage control and a little more back to basics. we saw donald trump today, thises should third campaign event of the day. pretty rare for him to be campaigning this card. he's rampg up his campaign schedule and sticking with the things he knows best. ho

cnn's sara murray is here with me. trump announcing today that paul manafort will take on an expanded campaign role going forward. why now? what's he going to do? >> that's right. the trump campaign put out a press release that suggested that paul would have a more expanded role. he would be doing delegate operations as well as d.c. outreechou outreach. it tells us the trump campaign is about to take a much more tactical approach when it comes to securing these delegates. >> this is home. it's great to be home. we love new york. >> reporter: donald trump is clearly in a new york state of mind. >> i love these people. these are my people. yeah! >> reporter: trump is doubling down in his home state today. his campaign said it's scrapping a california press conference scheduled for later this week, and trump also abandoned plans to appear at this weekend's colorado convention. the billionaire businessman is trying to put a stinging loss in wisconsin in the rear-view mirror and launch a more disciplined delegate hunt. now

thank you very much, sara murray. now i want to bring in cnn's chief political correspondent dana bash, and cnn politics executive editor mark preston. why are you smiling? we're like the circus has already come to town. politics this season is crazy. >> no more elephants in the circus, though. >> dana, since you're out on the campaign trail, i want to ask you this. this idea of teaming up to stop trump, people find it a little odd, a little more than a month ago you told us the kasich team was pushing for an alliance. they even got mitt romney to make a call. but then cruz didn't have any time for it. he couldn't be bothered. what changed since then? >> not just that he couldn't be bothered, don. more importantly, his campaign team thought it was a crazy idea because at the time, let's say a week ago, they thought that -- and they actually rightfully did still have a mathematical path to the nomination before the convention. that no longer exists, thanks in large part to the fact that right where you are in new york,

>> sara murray is out front at wilk wilkes-barre pennsylvania. how confident is the trump campaign about tomorrow? it's such a crucial day for donald trump. >> the trump campaign feels very strong heading into tomorrow's contest. they feel like they could even be pogtsed to potentially sweep all five based on the public polling that's available but a lot of the drama we're seeing play out today is focussed on contests that are further down the field. there's no sign the stop trump movement is going anywhere. john kasich and ted cruz strike up a deal to split the map. >> in politics, because it's a rigged system, because it's a corrupt enterprise, in politics, you're allowed to collude. >> whether it's collusion or common sense, tonight john kasich and ted cruz are teaming up to stop donald trump. >> so they colluded and actually i was happy because it shows how weak they are. it shows how pathetic they are. >> and the real estate mogul is not impressed. >> then i heard this guy cruz, he's getting killed, he's getting killed. he got so badly beate

sara murray?earance we saw from trump at the 9/11 museum, this is part of what the campaign is moping will be more of a strategic shift. his advisers say he's working on these policy speeches. but in the coming states, they want to do smaller events like this. they want him to mix it up with voters. they want him to do these kind of photo ops that send a message that may not be quite as loud and brash as donald trump screaming from the stump or showing up on every television network. but appear a little bit more presidential and still get the point across. obviously, with trump, the challenge is always can you pull this off? can you really impose discipline on a candidate who has essentially done whatever he wants so far in the race for a year? and that is going to be the big question for the trump campaign going forward. >> they've done it for 100 hours. we'll see if they can do it for 100 days. jay? >> at 8:20 p.m. last night, john, i got an e-mail from sources close to paul ryan's office. on ba

let's begin with sara murray. she's in albany, new york, with the trump campaign for us. sara, trump is holding a rally there in a little while. is he expected to keep hammering away at this idea that the republican party's nomination process is rigged? >> reporter: well, wolf, that's certainly what we will be listening for. donald trump has touted himself as this fantastic manager, negotiator, the kind of guy who will surround himself with smart people if he's elected. now that he's getting outorganized on the ground by ted cruz in a number of states, he is protesting and in true trump style, he is doing it very loudly. >> because nobody knows the system better than me. >> reporter: from immigration to campaign finance to his own bankruptcies, donald trump has always said he knows how to work the system. and he'll work it from the white house. >> and one of the things i always say, i know the best negotiators. >> reporter: but up against the complex process of wrangling delegates, trump is coming up short and crying foul. >> what we have going is a movement. so what they'

let's begin with our cnn political reporter, sara murray. she's in new york for us. the battle there is already beginning. sara, what is the very latest? >> reporter: that's right, wolf, the trump campaign is hoping a string of wins in east coast states will give their campaign a boost. in the meantime, they are going to have to deal with this tough narrative coming out of wisconsin as well as a power struggle within their own campaign. after ted cruz's big win in wisconsin -- >> it was a turning point, i believe, in this entire election. >> reporter: the gop primary fight appears to be veering toward a contested convention. >> i am more and more convinced that our campaign is going to earn the 1,237 delegates needed to win the republican nomination. either before cleveland or at the convention in cleveland. >> reporter: donald trump, lashing out tuesday night after his loss, and accusing cruz are illegally coordinating with the super pacs that support him. adding, ted cruz is worse than a puppet. he is a trojan horse being used by the party bosses, attempting to stea

sara murray reporting for us. going into the wisconsin primary, ted cruz says he's still has a clear path to the convention majority. failing that, he says he will win a contested convention in july in cleveland. sunlen serfaty is joining us live from wisconsin right now. sunlen, a lot of confidence coming from the cruz camp right now. what's that based on? >> reporter: a lot of confidence, wolf, including notably from the candidate himself. senator cruz was just here at this cheese shop where he toured and tasted the cheese, of course. he predicted outright that he will win here in wisconsin tomorrow. he's rlly trying to paint a broader picture of the implications of what a wisconsin win could do, how it could reshape the race potentially going forward. i caught up with him while he was on this tour here at this cheese shop and he said he believes wisconsin will be a turning point. here's more of what he had to say. >> tomorrow here in wisconsin, you know, today donald trump announced at a rally he predicted a bi

let's start with cnn political reporter sara murray. sara, the republican front-runner taking direct aim on the republican party and we're learning the trump campaign also making some significant staff changes. what's the latest? >> that's right, wolf. the trump campaign said they were staffing up and now we are beginning to see that. they are bringing on rick wiley who was scott walker's former campaign manager when he was running for president. he will be the new national political director of the trump campaign. this is an operative with a lot more field experience than many of trump's current operatives. he also came under some fire with walker for what people felt like was excessive spending. the other thing the trump campaign is doing, a little more d.c. outreach but so far that does not apply to the rnc. it's war within the gop. >> i know that it's stacked against me by the establishment. i fully understand it. >> reporter: donald trump, the party's front-runner, telling cnn he doesn't believe the republican national committee eve

cnn's sara murray has that for us. >> reporter: don, the trump campaign is getting a piece of good newsight. their campaign manager corey lewandowski will not be prosecuted with that reporter michelle fields. the florida prosecutor lnlt move forward with these charges. in this incident field alleged lewandowski grabbed her and left bruises behind. it removes another distraction for the trump campaign. they are at a pivot point where they're trying to expand their operation and add in more seasoned veterans. they're trying to do a little more d.c. outreach, but that outreach does not seem to extend to the rnc here in pittsburgh tonight. donald trump said once again he believes the system is rigged. now we're seeing rnc chair preibus defend that. reince feels he needs to hit back. preibus has try to run a transparent process. he does not want to see the party come out damaged at the end of this. he also predicted all of this would eventually blow over. we'll see if everyone is sing g ing kum-bi-ya in a couple months. >> i wouldn't count on it. >>> sunlen at cr, what is ted c saying about

let's talk about it more with cell body's sara murray.d morning. >> it is clear that donald trump and his supporters are not backing off of their complaints on this process. and look, the trump campaign has a full plate right now. they are staffing up. the candidate is at war with the rnc. they have at least one less distraction to worry about. and their campaign manager corey lewandowski will not be prosecuted in that run in with a female reporter. >> sources confirmed the cnn his campaign manager will not be prosecuted for battery following this altercation back in march. fields, who could seek defamation charges against corey lewandowski tweeting office of prosecutor asked two weeks ago if i'd be okay with an apology from corey. i said yeah but haven't heard back about it. >> on the campaign trail, tense moments outside of a trump rally in pittsburgh. as hundreds of angry protesters clashed with trump supporters. police in riot gear tried to keep the peace. inside the front runner intensifying his war with the gop. >> it is a rigged sy

this was taken by cnn's sara murray. and it shows more than a few empty seats. phil mattingly has more on that. >> if that picture is any indication and if the polls are any indication, this could be a great day for ted cruz and really a great day for anybody who's against donald trump. donald trump making very clear people have counted him out before. and he's ended up on the right side of that primary. >> thank you, wisconsin, i love you. go out and vote. i love you. >> final 24 hour blitz. the republican candidates exchanging insults and fighting for votes ahead of a primary that could reshape the republican race. >> i've never ever met anybody that lied like him. >> his security blanket is to insult people. >> i think they are becoming hysterical. >> donald trump on damage control after the worst week of his campaign. >> every week it is the end of trump. then they walk in, sir, i don't know what happened but your poll numbers just went through the roof. >> rolling out female supporters and his wife melania in a desperate bid to improve his standing with wit

our political reporter sara murray has the very latest. sara, new political drama on this, the eve of five important primaries. >> reporter: wolf, tomorrow voters will head to the polls in a number of these eastern states like pennsylvania where i am, maryland and delaware. but today the drama is focused on the contests that are even further down the field, as john kasich and ted cruz strike a deal to split the map. >> in politics, because it's a rigged system, because it's a corrupt enterprise, in politics you're allowed to collude. >> reporter: whether it's collusion or common sense, tonight john kasich and ted cruz are teaming up to stop donald trump. >> so they colluded and actually i was happy because it shows how weak they are. it shows how pathetic they are. >> reporter: and the real estate mogul is not impressed. >> then i heard this guy cruz. you know he's getting killed. he's getting killed. i mean he got so badly beaten last week and he's getting killed generally. >> reporter: in nearly simultaneous campaign memos sunday night, k

. >> all right, let me bring in sara murray, she co-wrote this phenomenal in depth piece, cnn politicselegate strategy." nice to see you not in the middle of some crazy crowd out and about. >> nice to be here. >> hearing manafort talking to chris what do you think about him really drew trump do you think and what else is he doing? >> i think trump was hearing from people he needed, someone who knows this process. they have some friends in common who sort of brought them together. the interesting thing, when you hear him talk, yes, he is the convention manager, he is trying to get trump to win when it comes to the convention. but you want to get the delegates you need beforehand. he's not just going to be involved behind the scenes. he's not going to be just involved in d.c. outreach. he's going to be involved in the strategy in the upcoming states. that's what we've seen by them strapping the schedule to go to colorado, and instead hunkering down in new york. the idea that he's just a convention manager and that he's just playing behind the scenes -- >> it's more than that. >> i think

we again with our political reporter, sara murray. cruz is giving trump a bit of a taste of his own medicine today. what's the latest? >> that's right. donald trump has made no secret of the fact he thinks this business of running for president is an unfair process stack against him. now ted cruz is fed up and he's calling donald trump out. because we know, in the state of california, whine is something best served with cheese. >> reporter: tonight, ted cruz is on the attack, claiming donald trump is whining about the election. >> donald loves to call people a loser. donald wakes up at night in cold sweats that people will call him losin' donald. that is his ultimate fear. >> reporter: as trump fires off his latest grievance. >> it's a corrupt system, it's a totally corrupt, rigged system. >> reporter: saying the gop primary process is fixed. after he came up short in louisiana and colorado. >> i end up winning louisiana and then when everything is done i find out i get less delegates than this guy that got his ass kicked. okay? give

let's go to cnn's political reporter sara murray in new york for us.ling for new york but also looking beyond the primaries. what's the latest? >> that's right, wolf. the trump campaign definitely wants to go into cleveland with 1,237 delegates. they want to avoid a floor fight. but they're doing everything they can to prepare just in case things don't go quite as planned. >> it's great to be home. we love new york. >> reporter: donald trump is clearly in a new york state of mind. >> i love these people! these are my people. man. >> reporter: campaigning in his home state, trump is scrapping a california press conference scheduled for later this week and abandoning plans to appear at this weekend's colorado convention. the billionaire businessman is trying to put a stinging loss in wisconsin in the rear-view mirror and launch a more disciplined delegate hunt. today trump appeared to expand the role of a key hire. veteran gop paul manafort to oversee delegate operations and washington outreach. now that the race has shifted to new york this dig at new y

first i'm going to go to sara murray inside the trump event. give us a sense of the energy inside. donald trump sure seemed into it tonight. this did really feel like a hometown crowd. they were very responsive to him. they were screaming and cheering for him. there are about 10,000 people inside. the fire martial shut the doors and didn't let the entire crowd in. it does seem like donald trump has an edge. >> the crowd did seem to eat it up. the crowd was quiet, mostly kept off twitter. we didn't hear phone interview after phone interview. he kept a low profile. there was a question. is that going to be some kind of different trump we might see? >> i think that was a rare day for donald trump. he is dealing with a little bit of internal campaign turmoil right now. but he came out on the stump getting back to basics, knowing he had to go hard against ted cruz. you heard him try to turn that new york values line that ted cruz rolled out back against him. >> let's go outside that event where we're seeing these protests right now. cnn's sara ganham is there. can you give as you sense

we begin with sara murray, trump headquarters in new york city. the trump campaign is confident tonight but a feeling they have something to prove here. >> reporter: jake, the trump campaign is poised for a big night. they know that. they feel like they are going to get good momentum coming out of states. they can clean up in all five. they are hoping momentum will carry them forward to some contests like indiana, where it's tougher for trump and they are hoping that winning big tonight and by continuing to end going forward they will be able to note this case donald trump is inevitable, there's no point in continuing to fight against him. they are trying to prove that they do have a ground game, they know how to do the work. pennsylvania is a key test. that's one of states that has tricky delegate rules, unbound delegates. they want to prove they can put in the work, that they can have a ground game and that they can win not just by voters going to polls but also in the delegate. >> sunlen serfaty has been traveling with the cruz campaign. she's

sara murray is joining us from outside trump tower. donald trump expected to speak tonight. what's the latest you're hearing from the campaign. >> reporter: that's right we're expecting donald trump to speak later this evening and we're expecting it to be after he has a number of victories tonight. his campaign feels confident about the states that are voting. i think the question is what kind of tone do we see donald trump take assuming he does have big victories tonight? do we see him try to appear more presidential or do we hear what we've heard on the campaign trail which is just being unrelentless in hamming ted cruz and john kasich and suggesting that it's time for both of them to get out of the race. >> if he's able to win big tonight in all five states does that give him confidence he will be able to get 1,237 of delegates at the first round needed to secure the nomination. >> reporter: i've talked to a number of trump advisors today and there is this sense of confidence internally that they will get to 1,237. it may not happen until june 7th, they know they need cal

s sa sara murray is standing by. i presume they're going to be happy. >> reporter: i think you're right. obviously the trump campaign wants to sweep all five. they're well on their way with these three victories and they believe coming out of tonight they are going to have an undeniable sense of momentum that could help them in contests coming up in places like indiana, west virginia and the kind of momentum that's going to make it harder for people to argue there's any way that the gop nominee could be anyone but trump. they realize they may have to fight to june 7th to get those 1,237 delegates they need to become the nominee, but i think this string of victories will make it easier to bring on not only voters in upcoming states, but more unbound delegates who may have been a little bit unsure. they think if they come out with five wins tonight it will look like there can be no one but donald trump. >> stand by and i want to go to the hillary clinton headquarters. we are not able to make projections for pennsylvani

sara murray covering the trump campaign for cnn. donald trump sounding pretty confident on the stump. you heard him. he's down in polls but as we've seen before, polls are sometimes, sometimes often wrong. can he pull off a win tonight, you think? >> reporter: if he does pull off a win tonight, it will be a come from behind victory, a surprise win. you heard him earlier saying he feels like wisconsin feels like new hampshire, like south carolina. right now, the polls don't bear that out. talking to voters, they seem to not really have this sort of fanatic support for trump that he's seen in other states. even as trump is going out there predicting a potential victory in wisconsin, that's not what his senior staffers are saying. they are saying, publicly, delegates in wisconsin have never been part of their march to 1,237 delegates. if he does have a poor showing in wisconsin tone, they're saying they have a way to lock up the nomination. that path does get narrower if he does not perform well in wisconsin tonight. >> jeff zeleny cov

. >> sara murray, thanks. >>> no shortage of material tonight. cnn political commentator, trump support ir kayleigh mcenany, former cruz communications director amanda carpenter, ross douthout and gloria borger. how important is this? how much of a relief for the trump campaign about corey lewandowski. >> it's a huge relief for lewandowski and the campaign. looking back on this, if corey had apologized at the beginning, none of this would have occurred and maybe i was a little too rough. that didn't happen. now he's no staffer wants to be the center of attention in your candidate's campaign. you want to be in the background and push the candidate forward. it's going to be a big relief to him and to his family. >> there still may be a defamation suit filed by this reporter against him for -- based on stuff he said on twitter. certainly not having criminal prosecution has to be a huge relief for all trump supporters. >> it's a big deal. anyone who looks at the florida statute knew this was going to be dismissed easily. and the really big lesson her

let's check in with sara murray, the trump campaign feeling confident and good. what are they doing when they are planning for what's next? will they do in the coming days. >> jake, tonight the trump campaign wants to prove not only can they win these states but they are not so bad at this delegate wrangling business. we should look to the results in pennsylvania as what they are hoping will be a signal of that. this is a state with corky delegate rules and the trump campaign hopes to out organize competitors there. they have been holding conference calls with delegates to make sure everyone knows what is going on. they put out an official slate and had ivonka and we're seeing a new level of discipline. trump advisors at the rnc last week and saw it out. committee members for some of the upcoming contests and meanwhile, back in the office, the delegate team is hunkering down for six hours working on this delegate selection. this is the new norm. this is the new norm of a discipline campaign laser focused on the delegate hunt, jake? >> sounds like the trump campai

sara murray is at the trump event in milwaukee. i understand that his wife melania will join him there as well? >> reporter: that's right. we're expecting melania to join her husband on the campaign trail which is significant and trump's part of rocky week has been his image among female voters in the wake of back and forth on abortion and suggesting that maybe women deserve to be punished if they get abortions if that's made illegal and, of course, he walked that back. if melania joins him on the stage, it will be interesting to see if she speaks on his behalf ahead of the wisconsin primary. anderson? >> and he admitted last week may not have been his best. how much damage control has the campaign been trying to do? >> reporter: i think it's less damage control and more back to basics. we saw donald trump at his third campaign event and it's rare for him to be campaigning this hard. i think he's sticking with the things that he knows best and if you're donald trump, what are the things that he knows best is how to hit your opponen

sara murray, cnn, milwaukee, wisconsin. >> okay. i think it's been about a week since we've had a presidential debate. so the good news is the democrats, hillary clinton, bernie sanders, they've agreed to another debate. it will be right here on cnn april 14th in brooklyn, new york. that's five days ahead of the state's primary. but right now the focus is on wisconsin. that's coming down to the wire. brianna keillor reports. >> reporter: here in wisconsin bernie sanders is hoping that college students and also support from labor voters will help deliver a win in the wisconsin primary. he's been talking a very big game in the badger state, emphasizing that he's won a string of several contests recently and that he has momentum. hillary clinton and her campaign are also managing expectations about how she is going to do in wisconsin. her campaign sent out a fund-raising e-mail to supporters asking for money and noting that bernie sanders has outraised her in the last three months and also that the polls in wisconsin are showing her do

sara murray has more. >> reporter: donald trump stepping away from the trail to regroup and firing offr that he has priorities beyond his bid for the presidency. tweeting, so great to be in new york. catching up on many things. remember, i am still running a major business while i campaign. and loving it. trump laying low as his campaign crafts a plan to clinch the nomination before cleveland. >> the reality is, ted cruz has seen his best day. the reality is, this convention process will be over with some time in june. probably june 7th. and it will be apparent to the world that trump is over the 1237 number. >> reporter: trump's recently named convention manager paul manafort making it clear he'll play a prominent role in the campaign from now on and report directly to trump. >> i work directly for the boss. i listen to everybody, but i have one man whose voice is louder than everybody else. >> reporter: manafort adding his role is a sign trump is ready to take a more strategic approach to the race. >> because the campaign comes in stages, he also understands there comes a time when w

joining us, sara murray, cnn politics executive editor mark preston, peter beinart and rebecca berg,tical reporter for real clear politics. you heard paul manafort say that, yes, corey lewandowski is the campaign manager, but he, manafort, reports directly to donald trump. >> i think that's an important message that he's sending to washington insiders that he's in control of trying to get donald trump to 1,237 delegates that's needed to win the nomination. paul manafort well known within republican circles. very known here in washington, d.c. had he looked subservient to lewandowski, i don't think that would make him effective. >> rebecca, you wrote an article saying these other republican senators are very reluctant to get in there and endorse ted cruz. he's got two, maybe three supporters so far that have publicly said they'll support him. what's the problem here? >> so reluctant is maybe a generous word to use in this case. they all genuinely deeply dislike ted cruz. even with trump surging and on his way to potentially winning the republican nomination or being in a strong positi

jeff zeleny is back with us along with our political reporter sara murray.and sanders campaign for that matter feeling about the debate last night? >> let's start with the clinton campaign. they believe it was a moment for secretary clinton to keep raising some of those questions that she really has been throughout the course of this new york campaign about whether senator sanders is actually prepared for the presidency, if his ideas are well thought through. in fact, they went up with an advertisement today that's going to be airing on television here, echoing some of those same themes we saw in the daily news editorial a couple of days ago. they really believe they were able to show that secretary clinton is more in command of this. of course, not surprisingly, if you talk to the sanders campaign, they believe that bernie sanders, one, energized his existing supporters and, two, urged other people who may be having lingering doubts about the clinton campaign to at least give him a shot. but after watching nine of these debates now, yesterday was the most c

sara murray, thank you very much. as we mentioned, state of georgia is a state where trump is struggling to keep the delegates loyal after winning last month's primary. most of the 42 delegates just elected by georgia republicans say they would support ted cruz if there is a contested republican convention. take a look at this. got a little heated at one g ga convention site. the trump supporters bolted with the american flag after three cruz loyalists were elected. it is also where our next tea party organizer and pro-trump activist defeated in the bid to become one of the delegates and joins me now. nice to have you on. >> nice to be on your show today. how are you doing? >> i'm wonderful. but it's more about you than me today. >> yes. >> let me just ask you. prior to this weekend and even really for the past year, what have you seen or heard that the cruz camp has done to try to court the delegates? >> they're trying to reach out and aggressively game the system that georgia uses to elect the delegates. senator cru