Delegates who vote on the Convention Floor told cnn theyre joining the trump train. Theyre putting him over the top with that commitment. I want to go to senior White House Correspondent jim acosta. He is in bismarck, north dakota. This is where trump is set to take reporters questions in just a moment there, jim. Does this number really change anything for him strategically or is this just a big milestone for him to celebrate . Reporter well, i think its a couple of things. Its certainlying . To celebrate and we came out here to bismarck, north dakota, and was told enroute hes having this press availability taking reporters questions. That was not something that was planned. And im told by trump adviser earlier this morning that basically this was arranged to talk about the fact that he has clinched that magic number of 1,237 delegates for the republican nomination. But the presumptive gop nominee as you know already been in the general election fight. Hes been taking it to Hillary Clinton on very personal terms in the last several days. We may hear that once again. I was talking to a trump adviser last night about the lines of attack of Hillary Clinton on the Real Estate Purchasing in the housing bubble and i was told the Trump Campaign will be hitting the clintons with the whitewater scandal of the 90s and a down and dirty nasty election battle and we have a taste of that. In terms of questions asked of donald trump, obviously he is asked about the Vice President ial search. Paul manafort was just quaoted last 24 hours saying that donald trump may not tap a minority to serve as his running mate because that would be seen as, quote, pandering and obviously asked i think once again about releasing the tax returns. That is a source of contention between democrats and republicans over whether or not donald trump should actually ever release his tax returns. Paul manafort said in the interview that would only serve to help Donald Trumps adversaries. And so lots of questions will be asked but i think the general election has already started and already started before this moment. But this is certainly something for donald trump to savor. He is talking about this in the last several days that he defeated 16 candidates, governors, senators, people who are very wellknown inside the Republican Party and across the country, and so, hes going to i think take note of that and also possible that hell want to talk about what president obama said overseas as you know, president obama said over in asia during this foreign trip that World Leaders have been telling him theyre rattled by what donald trump has been saying out on the campaign trail and, brianna, i did talk to a trump adviser about that little nugget and this adviser said they should be rattled because donald trump is putting america first. So its going to be no holds barred i think in the coming months, brianna, and getting a taste of that donald trump here in just a few moments walking in here. This is a day, jim, where theres so much to ask about. We await that we can see theyre staging there ahead of this press availability with donald trump. You mentioned the whitewater line of attack that donald trump and his campaign are proposing to counterpunch against Hillary Clinton when it comes to her line of attack basically trying to diminish him and trying to paint him as a bit of a wall street predator or a real estate predator in a way. Why is it that they think that that is something thats going to stick ultimately . Reporter well, they say its apples to apples. That if Hillary Clinton, if the Clinton Campaign talks about his real i state activities, they say whitewater was a piece of land in arkansas very controversial for the clintons and so they say that is a real estate activity that they can talk about. On the trump side of the equation here. You know, the other thing that may come up, as well, hes walking into the room i think any moment, Elizabeth Warren, hes been sparring with her. Shes sort of a trump troller in chief for the Democratic Party in recent days and so my suspicion is to be asked about warren, as well, because, you know, she is just and you know this from covering the Clinton Campaign, she is such a visible almost surrogate, not quite, but an ally of Hillary Clinton going after donald trump and raised all of these discussions about whether or not Elizabeth Warren might be Hillary Clintons running mate in this general election battle which that would be quite something. I think the skys the limit. He is asked a lot of questions here and then goes into this big arena thats next door to me to deliver a speech on energy. This is one of these policy speeches that the Trump Campaign is talking about that hes rolling out over the course of these coming weeks. And, brianna, we thought it was an Energy Speech where, you know, we would come into a room and a couple of hundred chairs for the press and a few people in the industry. There are about 7,000 people in this rally space next door to where were standing right now. 7,000person Energy Speech which is certainly unusual. All right. Thanks so much. Well be back to you in a moment as we await donald trump. He is taking that lectern in a matter of moments and watching that. I want to talk more about what were expecting with cnns senior political reporter niamalika henderson, dana bash, a writer for u. S. News world report and errol lewis for new york one news. Dana, i think this is what we were expecting, donald trump clinching this allimportant delegate number as some of these unbound delegates say im going to go for donald trump now. What does this change about the convention . About the convention . Well, based on where we thought we would be two, maybe three weeks now, everything. You know . It changes so much. We thought we were headed to a contested convention. The speaker of the house paul ryan who is going to be the chair of the convention caught off guard he said because he thought he was chairing, you know, a wild and chaotic moment for the Republican Party in cleveland in july. So, you know, thats the key but i think the broader point to make in, you know, i think we have kind of been used to the idea of donald trump being the presumptive nominee for several weeks now but it is important at this moment to take a second and remember how historic this is and how remarkable it is. Never mind that he crushed 16 other for the most really qualifiy eied candidates. But also, what he represents to the Republican Party as its leader, as the person who they want to put in the white house. As somebody whos had a past thats not been kind of standard republican conservative credo but representing a grassroots done with washington, wants to disrupt and he is their leader. David, i wonder what you think of what Newt Gingrich tweeted. No within moved to a may 2016 winning of nomination. What is your reaction to that . Gingrich is rumored for maybe wanting a position at Donald Trumps side, right . He is actively campaigning for that Vice President ial position. I think that tweet shows it. But i think the most fascinating thing about this press conference to see and every Donald Trump Press Conference is his biggest strength and biggest weakness as a candidate. We have no idea what hes going to say. And thats why he is such a powerful figure in the Republican Party. Will he bash republicans today . Who knows . Will he practice the fire on Hillary Clinton . We dont know. Thats what make it is candidacy i think so intriguing and so fascinating and remarkable. As we await donald trump here, we expect him in just moments. I want to get all of your reactirea reaction starting with you, nia. Paul manafort said that the Presumptive Republican nominee is unlikely to pick a woman or a minority for the position because, quote, that would be viewed as pandering, i think. I guess that makes us expect that he is going to pick a white male. But also, talk about what that means for him as hes trying to maybe broaden his appeal. Yeah. You know, i guess its a little surprising but maybe not so surprising because it doesnt look like donald trump wants to necessarily broaden appeal. But wants to double down on what we have seen of previous republican candidates and that is in some ways to see if they can get more white voters than mitt romney, for instance. And not necessarily follow that gop autopsy that we saw in the wake of romneys defeat. But this idea that somehow picking minority or a woman candidate would be seen as pandering, i think, for some people its seen as a little problematic. Hes also seeming to say that are there no minority or women candidates out there who could be seen as qualified and does that carry over if hes in the white house . Does that carry over into who hes picking in terms of Supreme Court justice. I think three women were on the list he sent out of possible Supreme Court justices. So yeah. I mean, in some ways it is surprising given what we have seen other republicans wanting to broaden and seen from donald trump so far, he has a different strategy and what the coalition will look like. Is that a successful strategy . Is that a successful coalition to pursue . Are the numbers there compared to the coalition that Hillary Clinton, for instance, is pursuing . Well see. Its a very risky strategy in some ways. I mean, to sort of say, off the bat, were not going to take a step in the direction as though sort of a Party Establishment thought would be a path to victory four years ago, we wont take one symbolic step in that direction to, you know, bash as he did Susanna Martinez, the governor of new mexico, essentially writing off that state. I mean, thats Risky Business because you have to win state after state. You have to win a majority in this state, in that state and got to add up to 270 electoral votes so you look at the map and you start writing off states like, say, new mexico. You start writing off states like, say, nevada or colorado. You run out of real estate pretty quickly and telling in a way that trump happens to have clinched in the delivering of a speech in north dakota. The last time north dakota voted democratic for president is in 1964 and before that the 1930s for fdr so it is about as republican in a very white state as youre going to find. Hes going to have to do more than that because he has three electoral votes in north dakota. He will have to really sort of expand the map and thats one of the Big Questions thats out there is what were going to hear today a step even a gesture in the direction of trying to expand the electoral map for the Republican Party. And i just want to let our viewers know, were awaiting the donald trump News Conference in bismarck, north dakota. Hes gone to 1,237. Those are north dakota delegates that have taken the place behind the lectern. Hell speak in front of them. David, i want to ask you about Something ElsePaul Manafort. He said hes, Donald Trumps, going to win unless we, him, people are w. H. O. Are working on the campaign screw it up. This is not a hard race. Not a hard race. What do you think . Well, of course, this is going to be a tough race. But i think that is surprising in itself because a lot of republicans thought Hillary Clinton was going to run away from this thing and then run away with this thing and then a flood of polls showing a very close race in battleground states. Frankly, we seeing outlying polls. Whether Hillary Clinton puts georgia in play. Whether she can put arizona in play and pennsylvania in play. I think its most likely that it comes down to the same battleground states that we have talked about in 2012 and 2008. Can trump defeat Hillary Clinton in florida, ohio and virginia . And i think thats what were you know, thats an unknown right now sitting here as we close out the month of may. I think manforts comments on the vp pick you would havent a woman or minority were very odd to come out an say on the record the a reporter. I think you would definitely want to float some names as a campaign to show that the Republican Party is more diverse than white males. But frankly, in a practical sense, there arent that many options on the republican side that trump hasnt already alienated. People floated Susanna Martinez and then he trashes her. Nikki haley, hes been in a feud with her. I think they have as much of a problem of who would take the invite to be on the ticket as they do sort of putting out a big expansive list to appeal to some more moderate republicans and democrats. Dana, does that hurt donald trump ultimately that manafort has come out and said essentially, you know, if they were to be picking a woman or a minority that it would be pandering, that they would be seen as checking the box . We are awaiting donald trump coming the lectern. Were assuming hes coming through this door and seeing folks come perhaps ahead of him. So well be jumping to him in a moment. Dana, what do you think about that . You know, i think that if he said anything different it would be going against brand. Meaning that Donald Trumps whole m. O. During the entire primary season was hes not politically correct. Hes not going to do things the way normal conventional politicians do. A normal conventional politician would do what david and you all were talking about. You know . Leak or float a list with a couple of names that shows he is taking seriously. Ill toss it back to you. Lets pause for a moment. Hes entering this room, shaking the hands of north dakota delegate there is in bismarck ahead of a rally. He is going to be taking the lectern answering a lot of questions about a number of topics of import today. As he clinches this allimportant number of 1,237 delegates. By our count, actually going to 1,238 as a number of unbound delegates have said theyre going to go over and support donald trump. So obviously, no election today but these delegates really pushing him over this important number and here we have donald trump taking the mike. Thank you very much, everybody. The folks behind me got us right over the top from north dakota. So, north dakota made a big statement and i just really appreciate it. We will not forget it. Thank you very much. I want to thank very good friend of mine, harold hamm. I guess we can consider harold the king of energy. Nobody like him. Ill tell you. He knows more about it than anybody i know. So, harold, i want to thank you for your support. You have been amazing from the beginning. My friend for a long time. Been on the cover of every magazine, i think as many as i have. Maybe more, harold, right . Thank you so much for your support. Okay, folks. Yes . Yes, john. President obama today in japan ignored the time honored tradition that politics ends at waters edge to say that thats good. Is that right . Thats good. I love that word. He knows nothing about business. When you rattle someone, thats good because many of the world as you know, many of our countries in our world of beautiful world have been absolutely abusing us and taking advantage of us. So if theyre rattled in a friendly way, well have great relationships with these countries. But if theyre rattled in a friendly way, thats a good thing, john. Not a bad thing. He said also that you show an ignorance of World Affairs, a cavalier attitude and thinking about whenats required to keep america safe. The president s done a horrible job. Hes a president whens allowed many of these countries to totally take advantage of him and us, unfortunately. And hes got to say something. Its unusual that every time he has a press conference he is talking about me. So, you know, its just one of those things but i will say this. He is a man who shouldnt be really, you know, airing his difficulties and he shouldnt be airing what he is airing where he is right now and i think you will see it stop pretty soon. Hes not done a good job. Today were giving a big speech on energy. Well see some Amazing Things happen with our country on energy. And i look forward to doing it. But president obama, you know, you see whats happened. You see where were going. Divided country. We have tremendous difficulty, tremendous problems. Were going to solve those problems. Well solve them fast. Okay . Yeah. Go ahead. [ inaudible ] that as youre building the vp list, unlikely of a woman or a minority in that mix. Because that would be pandering. And something that you do not want to do. Can you respond to that . I think its likely we would have somebody and dont do it for any specific reason. Were looking for absolute competence. I fully expect that we will have many women involved with not only i mean, i have had it with the campaign and many women involved and i think that you are going to see that and strongly. So i look forward to it. And i know he was misquoted a couple of times. He has been a lot. But well have women involved at the absolute highest levels. Mr. Trump . Jeremy, go ahead. During the republican primar