The Note: Coffee with Cruz
— -- NOTABLES
--TED CRUZ TAKES QUESTIONS LIVE ON ‘GOOD MORNING AMERICA.’ Sen. Ted Cruz started his morning with "Good Morning America" today as he opened up on air about the presidential campaign. When asked about his competitor Donald Trump’s calling the primary process "rigged," Cruz responded by saying it was typical of the real estate mogul. "Donald is not a complicated man to understand,” Cruz said today, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY notes. “He doesn't handle losing well.” He fielded questions from a group of registered Republicans, talking about guns, religious liberty and so-called New York values. http://abcn.ws/1Vdn8cO
--TED CRUZ RESPONDS TO GAY MAN ABOUT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. Sen. Ted Cruz today invoked the protections included in the Constitution when a gay man asked the GOP candidate about his work protecting the rights of gay voters. Responding to a question from Todd Calogne, a married gay man who is a registered Republican and owner of a pizza parlor in NYC, Cruz said the Constitution protects the rights of all citizens equally. "When it comes to religious liberty, religious liberty is something that protects all of us; it applies to Christians, it applies to Jews, it applies to Muslims, it applies to atheists," Cruz said during a “GMA” town hall. When asked further about the Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage nationally and what would happen to gay people who are already married, Cruz said marriage laws should be settled on the state level rather than the federal level, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY reports. http://abcn.ws/1Nx49SJ
--MISSED THE TOWN HALL? Here are highlights from Ted Cruz’s town hall on “Good Morning America,” courtesy of ABC’s RYAN STRUYK, PAOLA CHAVEZ and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI. The Republican candidate was joined onstage by his wife, Heidi Cruz. http://abcn.ws/1SgensK
DISS OF THE DAY with ABC’s MERIDITH MCGRAW -- BERNIE AND HILLARY'S DISCLOSURES AND WITHHOLDINGS. On Sunday, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders took turns taking swipes at each other’s track record on transparency. When pressed about her campaign's hesitancy to publish transcripts of high dollar speeches commissioned by Wall Street firms on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Clinton suggested her campaign is held to a different standard of scrutiny than Sanders'. “You know, we have certain expectations when you run for president, one of which is rules all of your tax returns, ever since you've been in public life. That's what I've done and 33 years of them are in the public domain, eight years are on my Web site,” said Clinton in a dig at the one year of tax returns Sanders made public on Friday. On CNN’s State of the Union, Dana Bash asked if Sanders plans to follow Clinton's lead and release additional years of tax returns. “We will post more of them,” said Sanders. But then he also snuck in a swing. “To be honest with you, our tax returns showed us that we made more money -- we made less money in a given year than Secretary Clinton made in one speech.”
TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s SHUSHANNAH WALSHE. Today, Donald Trump holds a press conference in Manhattan with his national diversity coalition. The group spans different religions and ethnicities and includes various coalitions who support Trump. Tonight, he holds a rally in Buffalo. This morning following GMA’s town hall, Ted Cruz holds private meetings in New York. This afternoon he holds a rally in Towson, Maryland before heading back to New York City. John Kasich is in upstate New York today. He holds a town hall this morning in Syracuse before holding a press conference and town hall in Schenectady tonight. On the other side of the aisle, Hillary Clinton holds a "GOTV" event in Manhattan this afternoon with Kirsten Gillibrand and Gabby Giffords. Bernie Sanders, who got a monster crowd in Brooklyn yesterday, one of his largest of the campaign, holds a rally in Long Island City.
WEEKEND ON THE TRAIL
TRUMP DOESN’T EXPECT VIOLENCE IF HE FAILS TO WIN REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. Donald Trump doesn't believe the Republican National Committee will see violence if he fails to win the nomination when the convention is held this summer. Speaking Sunday in Staten Island ahead of New York's primary this week, Trump again criticized the Republican Party's process for choosing a nominee, saying the "rigged system" makes it about party bosses instead of voters, ABC’s JOSH HASKELL reports. "I hope it doesn’t involve violence," he said, claiming his rallies are "the safest places to be in the country." "But I will say this -- it's a rigged system, it's a crooked system. It's 100 percent crooked." http://abcn.ws/1qzBqY6
TRUMP BASHES CRUZ ‘WINING AND DINING’ DELEGATES, BUT SAYS HE HAS ‘BETTER TOYS.’ Donald Trump said he won't take advantage of what he called the "crooked" Republican delegate system, after allegations that Ted Cruz's campaign has paid for hotel rooms for delegates and taken them out to dinners, but if he wanted to, he has "better toys" than anyone. "Nobody has better toys than I do. I can put them in the best planes and bring them to the best resorts anywhere in the world. Dural, Mar-a-Lago," said Trump. "I have something that blows everything away. But it’s a corrupt system." "We're going to send you to Mar-a-Lago on a Boeing 757. You’re going to use the spa, you’re going to do this, you’re going to do that. We want your vote," the GOP frontrunner said. According to ABC’s JOSH HASKELL, Trump said that if he wanted to, he could give better perks to delegates than the Cruz campaign, but reiterated that he has no plans to do so. http://abcn.ws/1TdzSwv
TRUMP CAMPAIGN REMAINS CONFIDENT AFTER TED CRUZ NABS MORE DELEGATES. Donald Trump's convention manager feels confident Trump can reach the 1,237 delegates needed for the GOP nomination despite Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sweeping up 14 more delegates in Wyoming Saturday, yet another victory at a state convention where a disorganized Trump campaign was boxed out. Paul Manafort told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday that the Trump campaign “didn’t want to waste” its money in Wyoming, where it failed to provide a full slate of preferred delegates, only naming six of the possible 14. ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL and JESSICA HOPPER have more. http://abcn.ws/1STqdIO
BERNIE SANDERS PRAISED FOR VISITING NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT. Two days before the New York primary, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders toured one of New York City's poorest neighborhoods much to the surprise of local residents. "Nice to get to know you now," one lady told Sanders, shaking his hand as he exited a public housing project and stopped by a playground in Brownsville, Brooklyn. "I was against you at first." "I am not so bad as I look on TV," Sanders replied. "No, you aren't. It is nice to see that you are coming through here. So, you might get our vote now," she continued, before turning to the crowd who had formed around Sanders. ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS has more. http://abcn.ws/1S4szbF
HILLARY CLINTON SAYS ‘I REALLY COULD CARE LESS’ ABOUT DONALD TRUMP CALLING HER ‘CROOKED HILLARY.’ If Donald Trump was hoping to get a quick rise out of Hillary Clinton with a new nickname - "Crooked Hillary" - it didn't work, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ writes. "He can say whatever he wants to say about me, I really could care less," Clinton said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," "I don't respond to Donald Trump and his string of insults about me." Trump unveiled his new nickname for Clinton at a Saturday rally in Watertown, New York. It's the latest in a long list of nasty names aimed at undermining his rivals: "Lyin' Ted" for Ted Cruz, "Little Marco" for Marco Rubio, and "Low Energy Jeb" for Jeb Bush. http://abcn.ws/23G7D1Q
HILLARY CLINTON COMES OUT IN SUPPORT OF CHUCK SCHUMER’S 9/11 BILL. In a break with the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton has come out in support of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue foreign sponsors of terrorism in federal court, her spokesman Nick Merrill said Sunday. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is pushing for the legislation, while the Obama administration has been lobbying to block the bill. Although the bill made the front page of Saturday's New York Times and has been in the news for weeks, this morning on "This Week," Clinton told George Stephanopoulos she was not familiar with the details and would not take a position, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ notes. "I don't really know about that, George. I'll have to look into it," she said, when asked her position. Following this interview, Merrill released the following statement on Twitter, saying Clinton backs the bill. http://abcn.ws/1SkEnVO
BERNIE SANDERS CRITICIZES HILLARY CLINTON OVER CLOONEY FUNDRAISERS. Just two days before the crucial New York primary, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders criticized former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over fundraising, calling into question whether big ticket fundraisers belong in the Democratic Party. “The issue is, what is the future of the Democratic Party?” Sanders said Sunday on ABC's ‘This Week with George Stephanopoulos.’ “How does raising money and the way you raise money reflect that future?” Clinton attended two fundraisers co-hosted by George and Amal Clooney over the weekend in California. The price tag for a ticket to dine with her -- $34,000. Sanders highlighted his campaign's fundraising, which has relied on an average of $27 from individual donors, ABC’s ADRIENNE SALAZAR notes. “We have done it very differently,” he said, adding he has received seven million individual campaign contributions. http://abcn.ws/22ERXpH
TED CRUZ SWEEPS WYOMING GOP CONVENTION. Ted Cruz swept all 14 delegate slots at stake in Saturday's Wyoming state Republican Party convention, marking yet another state meeting where Cruz's ground game and local party leader support boosted his delegate pursuit of Donald Trump. The Texas senator’s success here means that 23 of the state's 29 delegates will be bound to Cruz on the first ballot, ABC’s RYAN STRUYK and INES DE LA CUETARA reports. Trump has one, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has one and the other four are uncommitted. http://abcn.ws/1YzSus8
TRUMP CAMPAIGN FALTERS IN GEORGIA DELEGATE ELECTIONS. Following Donald Trump's dismal outcome in Wyoming -- Ted Cruz swept all 14 delegate slots at stake in the state's Republican Party convention -- the GOP front-runner's campaign appeared to falter during delegate selections in Georgia, which elected 42 of its 76 national delegates Saturday in 14 congressional district conventions across the state, ABC’s ERIN DOOLEY reports. The 3rd Congressional District, for example -- which cast 39 percent of its GOP vote for Trump in March -- will be sending three Cruz supporters to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. Though two of them will be bound to Trump on the first ballot -- the other is bound to Cruz -- all three told ABC News they will vote for the Texas senator on the second ballot. http://abcn.ws/1WyBi7N
DONALD TRUMP FORECASTS ‘ROUGH JULY’ AS DELEGATE BATTLE CONTINUES. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump once again turned up the heat on the party's national committee before his home state of New York holds its primary Tuesday. Speaking to a crowd of several thousand in Syracuse on Saturday morning, Trump predicted a "rough July," again sounding off against the process from which the party's choose its nominee. He also issued a blunt warning if the "rigged system" wasn't changed. "You better straighten out the system because the people want their vote," said Trump. "The people want to vote, and they want to be represented properly." RNC chair Reince Priebus responded to some of Trump's frequent complaints this week, saying it was the responsibility of the campaigns to understand the rules, ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI reports. http://abcn.ws/1NuB9Ld
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
BERNIE SANDERS MEETS POPE FRANCIS AT VATICAN. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders met with Pope Francis on Saturday morning at the papal residence in Vatican City. Sanders was with his wife, Jane, who said Pope Francis was joined by Argentine Bishop and Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo. A spokesman for the Vatican confirmed the meeting and said they spoke about foreign policy and climate change before the pontiff headed to the Greek island of Lesbos to see a refugee camp, ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS and PHOEBE NATANSON report. "He is a beautiful man," the presidential hopeful said. "I am not a Catholic, but there is a radiance that comes from him. It was very wonderful to meet him." http://abcn.ws/1Slf8Gf
WHO’S TWEETING
@ryanstruyk: Ted Cruz says on @GMA he has "zero interest" in being Trump's vice president, saying that Trump will lose big to Hillary Clinton.
@shushwalshe:.@tedcruz on @GMA: "I don't have a Donald impression. He's one of a kind and I'll leave it at that." @ABCPolitics
@meridithmcgraw: HRC shares list of favorite restaurants in NY, wisely shares Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse (& she gets a table at Rao's!) thrillist.com/eat/new-york/h…
@TheFix: This photo of Bernie Sanders's Brooklyn crowd will wow you wpo.st/C0DV1 pic.twitter.com/ufV3i4vOVu
@CNNPolitics: Bernie Sanders says if Hillary Clinton wins the nomination, she will have "to make the case to those young people"