Good morning. Im carol costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The donald trump political machine may have a reverse gear after all. Igniting a fire storm angering both sides of the abortion debate. In an interview on msnbc trump said if abortion were outlawed any woman who violates the bab should be punished. She lat this was during a discussion with Chris Matthews. And it was off the cuff. Not scripted and when he said should there be punishment he said yes. Chris matthews said for women he says yes. Again not distinguishing the fact it is the actual procedure that would be illegal. That is exactly why he issued the statement clarifying. Donald trump is pro life with exceptions. He does not support penalizing women for having abortions en then why did he say that. My point because it was a miss speak. How many times do i have to say that. Cnns Phil Mattingly life in milwaukee, wisconsin. Five days for that states primary. With more on this. Good morning phil. Reporter good morning. Donald Trumps Campaign up to this point, very Successful Campaign to this point are, has been defined by his ability to walk into dangerous political situations and walk out somehow unscathed or even higher in the polls. Now he may be confronting something that doesnt actually allow that to happen. This is not something you can dodge. Reporter donald trump smack in the middle of another controversy abortion. This time the front runner stating that women who get abortions should face, quote, some fornl of punishment if the procedure were outlawed. Do you believe in punishment for abortion . Yes or no as a principle. The answer is there has to be some form of punishment. For the woman. Yeah. You take positions on Everything Else . I do. It is a very complicated position. How do you ban abortion without o a sanction . Then the very tricky question of a sanction. A fine on human life which you call murder . A fine . Imprint for young woman who finds herself pregnant. It will have to be determined and it hasnt been determined. Responsible under the law for these abortions or is he not responsible different feelings, different people. I would say no. The backlash, fast, furious and bipartisan. Trumps rivals on both sides quick to pounce and reject the notion. I dont think it is an appropriate response and difficult enough situation than to try to punish somebody. Donalds comments, they were unfortunate. They were wrong and i strongly disagree with them. Aint abortion groups and democratic president ial candidates all lining up to criticize the comments. When he was asked whether women should be punished he said yes. And that is outrageous. To punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comprehension. A i mid the fire storm, Trumps Campaign uncharacteristically backtracking, quickly issuing this statement attempting to clarify his remarks. Quote, this issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determines. Like Ronald Reagan i am pro life within exceptions. Within another few hours another statement, complete rervetsal of the first. Saying if abortion were made illegal. Quote, the doctor or any other person performing the illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible. Not the woman. The woman is a victim in this case. As is the life in her womb. His son coming to his defense, tweeting be fair. Was asked if it was illegal. Should there be punishment . Shouldnt there be consequences for breaking laws . Now carol, one of the most interesting elements of the last kind of 1216 hours dealing with this has been watching the pro life groups. Not only did they distance themselves immediately from Donald Trumps comments but in talking to the individuals from the groups over the last day or so, they have been pointing to a series of kind of tells in how donald trump has spoken about this. That make them very weary of his knowledge of the subject matter. Also something ted cruz pointed out in his statement saying donald trump simply didnt know what he was talking about. Donald trump is facing these issues the day after his Campaign Manager was charged with a misdemeanor for simple battery for grabbing a female reporter and now part of a pattern Donald Trumps opponents are pointing to. His unfavorability rating repeatedly showing above 70 . So this is an issue that donald trump has to deal with. Not only on the micro level but also macro. And as you mentioned just five days away from wisconsin and hes trailing ted cruz in the poll heres. Phil mattingly, thank you. Mr. Trumps 24 hours of mayhem is more than just a bump on the campaign trail. You heard what phil said. Trumps support among women is now abysmal in the all important state of wisconsin. Take a look. A new poll found 76 of republican women in wisconsin have an unfavorable view of mr. Trump. And that does not escape senator cruz who campaigned in madison yesterday. An event he declared a swrags of women. He took to the stage with his wife, his mother and Carly Fiorina. After that he flew into the jimmy kimmel show to bash trump. Donald is a unique individual. I will say i was watching the early part of the show. And if i were in my car and getting ready to reverse and saw donald in the back up camera [ laughter ] im not confident which pedal id push. All right. Lets talk about this and more. I want to bring in two of our cnn political commenters. Kayleigh mac nip mcenany and ben ferguson. Some say trump changed his tune three times in one day because hes not a real republican. He doesnt understand the platform. Listen to what dr. Ben carson told my colleague erin burnett. Bear in mind, i dont believe that he was warned that that question was coming. And i dont think he really had a chance to really think about it. Abortion is a complicated personal issue. And mr. Trump didnt have time to think about it, kayleigh . I think in the interview, as he was answering question, when you are in the middle of an answer and a host interrupts you to press you further as you are trying to develop your thoughts, it is understandable you are going to be thrown off. And there are some hosts, some reporters out there in the media who are foaming at the mouth to try to get donald trump to misspeak. They want a sound bite. They want a 15 second piece in a long interview, a long town hall so they can play it over and over and over and try to topple donald trump. Thats not everyones goal but certainly was Chris Matthews goal last night to get donald trump to stumble or falter and he did. He succeeded. So were talking about a misspeak over and over and over. Kayleigh is blaming the media. Is that fair . This is as simple as asking somebody their name or their date of birth. You should be able to answer a question when you are republican running for the presidency about abortion and not say it is an i gotcha question or the media is picking on me. This is donald trump the fraud exposed. He doesnt know what he believes on abortion because hes had to change his position to what he thinks people want to hear. If you truly have a corset of values as a republican president ial candidate, you know why you believe what you believe first off an abortion and you certainly know how to explain it when you are running for the white house. Donald trump was not picked on yesterday. Abortion has never been an i gotcha question when you are running for the presidency. You know it is going to be asked. If for no other reason because of how it relates to the Supreme Court and roe v. Wade. Donald trump was in favor of partial birth abortion as late as 2000. Now hes trying to act as if hes a conservative when he doesnt understand the issue. He was attacked because he doesnt know whether hes talking about on b abortion. This is not an i gotcha question. This is a fair question and if you are running for president you should be able to answer this without flipflopping three times in three hours. Let me also say this. His own son was contradicting the campaign when they were fixing this problem. If your own son doesnt know how you feel on abortion, i think it is pretty clear that donald trump doesnt know how he feels on abortion because his own son couldnt even follow him and couldnt explain it away and was contradicting the campaign of donald trump. This is pathetic and donald trump does not know what he thinks on abortion. Let me ask you the question this way. Women voters seem to have the upper hand now. 76 of women in the state of wisconsin have an unfavorable view of mr. Trump. So as a woman, as a republican woman, whether do you hope mr. Trump will say to heal the wounds . I think he did what he needed to do. He came out and he clarified. And look, it is a misnomer that women in this country walk around thinking about abortion all day. It is an important issue, of course it is. But most but more that poll is taking into account many things mr. Trump said about women that they dont like. 76 is an incredibly high unfavorable finding in a poll, dont you think . Sure. But we also have the fact that of the 16 states cnn has done exit polls in donald trump has won woman in. Carol. And also the latest poll showed that he is ahead of ted cruz by 14 points with women. So there is contradictory data to suggest he has done well among women and in fact the best in the race. Carol ben go ahead. Carol, this literally summarizes the insanity of Donald Trumps last 24 hours. He came out as a conservative or claiming hes a conservative and said we should punish women for having an abortion. He also says that planned parenthood does great work. The only reason the only reason why you can explain these two extreme positions by donald trump is, he has no idea what his own believes are on abortion. Or he realized it doesnt fit the republican platform and the process here. You cannot punish women and conservatives evangelical christians and every other candidate in the republican field understands you dont punish a woman for having abortion ever, period. If you want to punish a doctor for doing an illegal procedure, if abortion was illegal, that is something you can say. But donald trump didnt say that. This is not a misspeak and im tired of people acting like this is just a misspeak here. You dont know that. Im glad you have access to Donald Trumps mind, ben. [inaudible]. Let kayleigh have her say. Last word for you. You were saying categorically that this was not a misspeak. Im glad ben ferguson you have access to Donald Trumps mind. None of us do [inaudible]. I take him at his word. And if you take at his word. And he switched the policy three times in three hours. I have to leave it there. Still to come in the newsroom a lot at stake in new york state and dont democrats know it . Both candidates hitting the big apple today. Start with a positive attitude. And positively radiant skin. Aveeno® positively radiant moisturizer. With active naturals® soy. Aveeno® naturally beautiful results®. This cit added this other level of clean to it. It just kinda like wiped everything clean. My teeth are glowing. They are so white. I actually really like the two steps. Everytime i use this together it felt like leaving the dentists office. Crest hd, 6x cleaning, 6x whitening. I would switch to crest hd over what i was using before. You cant breathed. Through your nose. Suddenly, youre a mouthbreather. A mouthbreather how can anyone sleep like that . Well, just put on a breathe right strip and pow it instantly opens your nose up to 38 more than Cold Medicine alone. So you can breathe and sleep. Shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. Breathe right it begins from the the second were born. Er. Because, healthier doesnt happen all by itself. It needs to be earned every day. Using wellness to keep away illness. And believing a single life can be made better by millions of others. As a Health Services and Innovation Company optum powers modern healthcare by connecting every part of it. So while the world keeps searching for healthier were here to make healthier happen. Wisconsin is the next big Battle Ground in the president ial race with that states primary next tuesday, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are too close to call when you factor in the margin of error. He is hoping for another big win in the upper mid west. And sanders needs it. He lags behind clinton in the delegate count. So today both are stumping in new york where some 250 delegates are up for grabs next month. Joe johns is in washington with more. The campaign for new york with its huge haul of delegates is about to hit stride. The sanders camp starting some buzz on social media about ab event in the bronx. Hillary clinton got it going with her kickoff in harlem. Both candidates have new york ties. Though the latest poll suggests Hillary Clinton currently holded a 12 point home state advantage over sanders and a wide lead in the hypothetical match up of donald trump and ted cruz. Secretary clinton was out slamming the republicans just yesterday. And the republicans side, what were hearing is truly scary. When donald trump talks casually about using torture, and allowing more countries to get Nuclear Weapons, or when ted cruz calls for treating american muslims like criminals and racially profilie ining predomiy muslim neighborhood, that doesnt make them sound strong. I makes them sound in over their heads. Bernie sanders is just a few ticks ahead in a neck and neck race in wisconsin. And once again he is hoping his appeal for high turnout puts him over the top in a state that can be progressive friendly. Im a little prejudiced about this. We have won 6 out of the 7 last caucuses being held. And we seem to always do well when the voter turnout is high. We dont when the voter turnout is low. I myself am prejudice. I like to see a large voter turnout. The Sanders Campaign hoping to make a big splash with a bronx event that is supposed to feature spike lee, Harry Belafonte and actress rosario dawson. Joe johns live from washington thank you. Team clinton is preparing for a new york sized battle against Bernie Sanders preparing to spend more money than planned in a bid to win the states primary. Some 247 delegates are at stake. 10 of the total needed for that democratic nomination. And during a rally at harlems apollo theater. Clinton had this to say about her democratic rival. Any candidate comes before you, that candidate owes it to you. To be clear about how were actually going to deliver. Now my opponent and i share many of the same goals. But some of his ideas for how to get there wont pass. Others just wont work. Because the numbers dont add up. And that means people arent going to get the help they need and deserve. So you can see Hillary Clinton is talking trash against Bernie Sanders. Joining know discuss the democrats battle for the big apple is chris smith. Thanks for stopping by. I think it is amazing. You know most of the country has a negative view of new york and new york city. Yet three of the top candidates are new yorkers. Bernie sanders, Hillary Clinton and donald trump. It is weird, isnt it . It is. But ill push back a little bit. After september 11, there was a vogue of people saying we are all new yorkers now. And it goes beyond that. Look at new yorks tourism numbers. We set records every year. That is domestic as well as international. Come here and visit and live here okay. But if you go even a little further, you know, the country broadly looks more like new york all the time. Were more racially and ethnically diverse. The country has as a whole become somewhat more liberal over time. New york is still out in front on both of those angles. But new york is not so much different than the rest of the country likes to think of itself. And then when you get into politics, you know, you look at Bernie Sanders, certainly new york roots. Grew up in brooklyn. But left in 1960 and has been a national socialist, liberal ever since. Hes got family here but hes been out of new york forever. He still has the brooklyn accent though right . And you would think that would be a turn off to some voters out there but young people seem to love that about him. Certainly because hes tapped into issues that cut across geographic roots. He has tapped into the antiestablishment populous, antiwall street crowd. Hillary moved here only in 2000. Some at the time called her a carpet bagger and whether she really lives here completely can be argued as well but shes bhn a National Figure a long time. Can Bernie Sanders catch up . Its interesting. Showed that poll this morning. It looks like a big lead. 12 points. That is actually down from what earlier polls showed where hillary was up 20 and 0 poi30 p. If sanders twor win wisconsin next week it gives him momentum. New york, people forget has a very Large College age, particularly in the city, population. You know, those are folks who have been sanders voters who have been passionate. Hillary is out there working hard. Bill clinton i think is doing four rallies today with African American and latino voters. So they would like to put it away. They would also like it not as closes as it seemts to be . Donald trump, ted cruz has accused him of having new york values, right . I think when people look at mr. Trump they see new york. Which is the real new york . Is it mr. Trump . Hillary clinton . Bernie sanders . There is a lot of new york that would like to disown trump . Hes lived here his entire life. But, you know, calling him the most authentic new yorker has always graded on people. He again has been a National Figure for a very long time through his tv shows. And, you know, he reflects an older white new york that has a lot, you know, of anger about how the lower middle class t middle class is fading, not just in the city but national. He has certainly tapped into that. You know he should win easily over cruz and kasich.