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Meeting With Sanders And Obama Just Wrapped Up; Reid States Sanders Can Be Helpful In Other Races; Sanders States He Looks Forward To Meeting With Clinton; Sanders On Capitol Hill After Meeting With Obama; White House On Sanders-Obama Meeting; Some Conservatives Call For Contested Convention; Sanders on Capitol Hill; Trump Meets with Donors. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 9, 2016 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 10:00 here in Los Angeles, 1:00 p.m. in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Tel Aviv. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We start with breaking news. The meeting between President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders has just wrapped up. The two got together inside the White House to talk about the presidential race and what comes next for Senator Sanders and for his supporters.

We're keeping a very, very close eye on the White House Briefing Room right now, expecting reaction there, at any moment, from White House officials.

Meanwhile, Senator Sanders came to the microphone in front of west wing a little while ago after the meeting wrapped up. Here is some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump would clearly, to my mind and I think the majority of Americans, be a disaster as president of the United States. It is unbelievable to me, and I say this in all sincerity, that the Republican Party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign.

In my view, the American people will not vote for or tolerate a candidate who insults Mexicans and Latinos, who insults Muslims, who insults African-Americans and women.

Needless to say, I am going to do everything in my power and I will work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States.

I spoke briefly to Secretary Clinton on Tuesday night, and I congratulated her on her very strong campaign. I look forward to meeting with her in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the one percent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, let's bring in our Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju who's on Capitol Hill. He's monitoring all of these late breaking developments.

Manu, Senator Sanders didn't say much at all about his discussion with the president. Did insist he is going to be competing next Tuesday in the last contest of this primary season, the Democratic primary in Washington, D.C. What are you hearing up on Capitol Hill from Democrats about what is likely to happen after Tuesday?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Democrats seem hardened about what Bernie Sanders said. I mean, those remarks appear to be prepared before he went in. Our White House Producer Kevin Liptak actually got a picture of Bernie Sanders actually holding some prepared remarks. It looks like he had that prepared going in which is probably why he didn't shed much on his meeting with the president.

But that last statement that he said, Wolf, that he looks forward to working together with Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump, that is exactly the kind of message that Hillary Clinton supporters on Capitol Hill have wanted to hear from Bernie Sanders, saying that he will be constructive. He will try to bring the party together and try to take it to Donald Trump. Not saying we're going to take this to the convention. This is going to be a -- this is a rigged system. We're going to try to overturn the will of the super delegates. And it's something that he did not really get into in these prepared remarks.

And so, if you're a Democratic on Capitol Hill, someone who wants the party to quickly get behind Hillary Clinton, you're probably feeling pretty good about what Bernie Sanders says. Maybe after next Tuesday, he would start to wrap up his campaign and not continue that campaign all the way to the convention -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that's what they all are hoping for. As you know, Senator Sanders, next on his agenda is a meeting with Harry Reid up on Capitol Hill. You spoke with the minority leader. What did he tell you about what he'll say to Senator Sanders?

RAJU: Well, Senator Reid has been pretty mum about what he is -- how he is going to approach this, because he's very close to Senator Sanders. They're very close friends. They've been keeping close contact through the course of this campaign. Actually at one point, Harry Reid actually urged Senator Sanders to quit last month. Senator Sanders, of course, did not.

But I've been told by a source familiar with Reid's thinking is that he wants to listen to Bernie Sanders. He does not want to strong arm him in any way. And he's willing to discuss pretty much whatever in order to help unify the party and help Bernie Sanders achieve what he wants to achieve here in the Senate. Now, interestingly, Wolf, I just spoke to Bernie Sanders' lone Senate supporter on Capitol Hill. That is Jeff Merkley. And I -- and I asked him specifically, what do you think about the idea from some in the Senator Sanders' camp who say, we want to overturn the will of the super delegates and make Bernie Sanders the nominee at the convention. He pushed back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:05:02] SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D), OREGON: We've got our nominee. The nominee is Secretary Clinton. And I don't think it would be legitimate for super delegates to overturn, if you will, the decisions made by the state primaries and the state caucuses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, it really just shows you, Wolf, that if Bernie Sanders does continue after Tuesday, he's going to face a lot of pressure, even from his own supporters, to pack it -- pack it in which is one reason why perhaps Bernie Sanders is sounding a little bit -- the sound of this message of unity a little bit more today after that White House meeting. We'll see what he has to say after this Harry Reid meeting at 2:00 this afternoon -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, he clearly -- now, he really wants the people in the District of Columbia. The Democrats have a chance to vote. That's why, presumably, he's not stepping down, at least not yet.

All right, thanks, Manu, for that.

Let's talk a little bit more about the Sanders-Obama meeting over at the White House, the effect of the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign going forward. Joining us now, our CNN Political Director David Chalian and CNN Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson.

So, what's your reaction, David, let me start with you, on the words we just heard from Senator Sanders?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think it's clear that this is a candidate who is unwinding from this process. I mean, he -- look at what happened today, Wolf. Look at where we are and look at how choreographed this is. You get the shot of the president of the United States, a walking along the colonnade with Bernie Sanders going into the meeting, fully having his sort of White House embraced moment there.

Then, he goes to the microphones in the driveway of the White House to speak. If this was -- if he was about to rail on and say he's making his case for super delegates and this is going to be a contested convention, I don't think that the White House would have arranged for him to do that on the -- on the driveway there. So, he went out there. He reasserted his core stump speech, his core values of what he has been fighting for throughout this whole campaign season.

But as Manu noted and as is critically important to note here, he went on to say that he hopes to meet with Secretary Clinton in the near future. Last I checked, she has no public schedule today. So, near future could mean very near.

And, you know, he clearly stated that he was going to join this cause to make sure Donald Trump is not president and work with Hillary Clinton. That is not the -- that is not the language of someone who feels that they're taking this fight on. That's the language of someone who is unwinding themselves from this process and coming to terms with how to move forward.

BLITZER: Nia, how much pressure is Senator Sanders on -- under right now, not just to get out -- not just to get out of this race but to actually go a step further and formerly endorse Hillary Clinton? We're showing live pictures, by the way, outside his Senate office. You see Senator Bernie Sanders there at his Senate office. A lot of reporters waiting in the hallway there. He's heading there. He'll be meeting shortly, we're told, with the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid.

But, Nia, how much pressure is he under?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, I think one of the things, in talking to some of the folks in Sanders' world or in his circle, he wanted to do this on his own terms. And that is what we are seeing. He was the one to request the meeting with the president at the White House. This is what we saw unfold today.

He obviously wants to stay in until Washington, D.C. He wants to take a further message to the convention in Philadelphia. So, I think that's what we're seeing. It's not really about -- there -- I mean, it's not really that pressure anymore.

In many ways, he wants to orchestrate this in the way that he wants to where he continues to get that message across. The one that he's been fighting for for much of his career. And also, the anti-Trump message that will, once again, see Elizabeth Warren double down on later tonight.

But I -- you know, I think this has been very choreographed. He clearly came in there with a strategy, came in there with talking points that he wanted to deliver after this. So, I think, you know, this is -- this is sort of perfect for Bernie Sanders. This is a person who I think, in many ways, got into this race not knowing he would do as well as he did.

But, you know, seeing the millions of people he was able to turn out, the millions of dollars that he was able to raise behind that message, he now wants real public, I think, ratification of his historic race and what he's been able to do, in terms of moving the Democratic Party to the left.

BLITZER: And, David, we have some video now of Senator Sanders. When he left the White House, he drove up Pennsylvania Avenue up to Capitol Hill. Got out of that elevator and there you see -- well, you're about to see him walking with aides and his secret service detail into his Senate office, together with his wife, Jane. She's there as well.

Let's just listen in a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well we don't -- we're not going to be here Monday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

[13:10:04] BLITZER: And, David, it's going to be -- it's going to be fascinating, David, to get the White House reaction now. We're standing by for a briefing in the west wing of the White House, Josh Earnest, the White House Press Secretary. What are they going to say?

There you see -- reporters haven't really started gathering there yet but it'll be fairly soon. It'll be interesting to hear, David, how the White House -- how the White House reacts to this. We're going to have live coverage of that, as you probably know, David.

CHALIAN: It's -- it will be very interesting. As you know, Wolf, the White House tends to be tight lipped about private meetings. But this is one where I am sure that they're eager to characterize it in some way, because they are invested so heavily, as we heard from the president just last night when he recorded his appearance on the "Jimmy Fallon Show," in unifying the Democratic Party.

And the White House clearly sees the president as sort of at the pinnacle of that moment. And to be able to unify the Democratic Party and take the fight to Donald Trump. And it'll be very interesting.

You hear the language they used of how they characterized the meeting. I'm sure they'll do nothing to characterize the Sanders' perspective of this. And we heard from Bernie Sanders, himself, afterwards. But we'll hear more from Senator Sanders, I'm sure, about his takeaway from that meeting in the future.

But in terms of the president's side of that meeting, I'm sure Josh will give us some sort of sense.

BLITZER: That will -- that's one of the reasons we'll have live coverage of that as well.

Jeff Zeleny is up on Capitol Hill. Jeff, you're outside Senator Sanders' office up there on the Senate side. Give us the latest that you're seeing and hearing.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I am indeed, Wolf. I'm in the -- in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where Senator Sanders, of course, has worked for many years. You could call this his day job. You know, he's been off campaigning for so long.

But he walked in about eight minutes before 1:00 Eastern time here with his wife, Jane. He waved to a few reporters. He did not answer our questions as we asked how he was feeling, how he was doing. But, so, he is inside this office right now where some of his Senate staff has been working all this time he's been running for president. But, Wolf, this is a busy afternoon for Senator Sanders and an important one here on Capitol Hill. He will be meeting with Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the Senate. That's coming up in about an hour's time. He's one of his closest friends in the Senate, Wolf. And that meeting will be so important to see what he does going forward.

Wolf, there's one other reason for Bernie Sanders to play along here with Democrats. Should Democrats take back control of the Senate in November and next year, he will be the chairman of his committee. So, that is another reason to, sort of, you know, play nice here. Not that he wouldn't have necessarily otherwise.

But, Wolf, this is a major, major shift from where Senator Sanders was in California, just a few days ago when we were out there with him campaigning. He said he is going to the convention. He is fighting on.

But today in Washington on Capitol Hill, his colleagues believe that he will sort of bow out gracefully. You can see the line of people behind me, secret service and others. Senator Sanders is in this office and he'll be meeting with Senator Reid. And some other meetings, we're told, also this afternoon, Wolf. Some private meetings with senators and others before he goes to a rally in Washington, D.C.

He, of course, is going to campaign for the District of Columbia vote next Tuesday before finally exiting this presidential race -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that's the last contest of this entire primary and caucus season. Jeff, we're going to get back to you. Stand by.

I want to show viewers, once again, some live pictures out of White House, the Briefing Room over there. We're going to get live White House reaction to this important meeting that President Obama just wrapped up a little while ago with Senator Bernie Sanders. We'll go there live. Stand by for that. It will be fascinating to hear how the White House reacts to what we just heard from Senator Sanders.

Also, Donald Trump, he's just wrapping up his own meeting, a meeting he's have with Republican donors, political fundraisers. There, you see some pictures of Donald Trump in New York. He went to that meeting. Left Trump Tower. He went over to Four Seasons Hotel not that far away. We'll have details of that and a whole lot more. Lots of news happening. We'll be right back.

[13:14:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:48] BLITZER: The breaking news we're following this hour in the race for the White House. We're going to show you some live pictures of the White House Briefing Room. There they are right now. Reporters will gather very soon to hear the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, give the official White House reaction to this very important meeting that wrapped up a little while ago between the president of the United States and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Afterwards, Bernie Sanders came out, said he's still in this race. He is going to compete next Tuesday in the last contest of this election season. The primary -- Democratic primary season in the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. We'll see what happens after that.

He then went back up to Capitol Hill, to his office in the Senate -- the Senate side up on Capitol Hill, the Dirksen Senate Office Building, getting ready for another important meeting he's about to have with the Senate Democratic leader, the minority leader, Harry Reid, who happens to be a friend of his. We'll have coverage of that.

Let's go to Jeff Zeleny up on Capitol Hill. He's outside Senator Sanders' office at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

You were out in California when Senator Sanders was out there. He was, obviously, disappointed he didn't win the California Democratic primary. What was your reaction when you just heard him say he wants more votes to come in because he thinks in the end the Hillary Clinton win in the Democratic primary won't be as vast as it seems to be?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I think that's an indication of how seriously Senator Sanders is taking his sort of role in history here. He has won 22 states in this long Democratic presidential campaign, but he is interested in the margin in California. And, of course, as we know, since Democrats do -- assign all their delegates proportionally, it does, in fact, make a difference what the margin of defeat or victory is.

So, Bernie Sanders spent 18 straight days in California, campaigned so hard aggressively across the state as really, though, he was like a local candidate for office and he wants to be validated and make sure that all the votes are counted to see what the final score is. The reality is, he was not expecting such a big defeat, a double digit defeat. They were not expecting that at all. So that's why Senator Sanders says he wants all these votes to be counted.

It's also a message to his supporters. They have been saying online and other places that they believe that, you know, the system may be rigged against them. They may be wronged. I think that this is -- you know, there's no evidence of that, but Senator Sanders is clearly saying he wants all the votes there to be counted here for as much of a historical record, I think, as anything else, Wolf. But it should be pointed out that Secretary Clinton, you know, won the majority of the raw vote across the country. She's about 3.5 million more votes than that. Senator Sanders also wants to make sure that he can stay as even as that goes, you know, for history sake.

[13:20:30] But, Wolf, I was struck by something Nancy Pelosi said earlier today on Capitol Hill just a short time ago. She, of course, is a Democrat from California. The House Democratic leader. She still was saying that she should give, and Democrats should give, Bernie Sanders some space here to make up his mind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: Every candidate thinks he or she is going to win. That's why they run. Or to get their message out. And so the question is, what is the purpose going forward? I think that Bernie Sanders has really Done a great job for our country, for our democracy, certainly for the Democratic Party and for young people. Now, what's the next step? That's really up to him. He deserves the right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And this really is a big day for Senator Sanders in terms of taking not necessarily the victory lap that he was expecting, Wolf, but seeing him walk there with the president at the White House, seeing him back here on Capitol Hill. There is a lot for Democrats to congratulate him on. He certainly has controlled much of the agenda and the discussion point.

And, Wolf, I'm also told he'll be having other meetings this afternoon in Washington, including with the vice president. Vice President Biden has not yet weighed in on this campaign as well and the senator thanked him for staying on the sidelines as well. So one source is telling me, Wolf, that he will be meeting with him later this afternoon. That will be really completing the full circle here, except for that meeting with his, of course, rival, who will be the presumptive Democratic nominee. He has not yet met with her, but he said he certainly looks forward to doing so.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Can we assume, Jeff, that that meeting between Senator Sanders and Hillary Clinton won't take place until after next Tuesday's Democratic primary in the District of Columbia?

ZELENY: It's really unclear, Wolf. I could see it happening before then. We don't know the exact timing of this. She is not in Washington, at least she's not scheduled to be in Washington today. She is at home, at Chappaqua. She will be coming here tomorrow to give a speech and to meet with some donors, but he will be in Vermont. At least he's scheduled to be, Wolf.

But the scheduling here in these final days in these meetings is often fluid, shall we say. I remember very well eight years ago this week when Barack Obama met privately with Hillary Clinton in Senator Dianne Feinstein's house. You talked about that with her yesterday, Wolf. And that was a very secret meeting. In fact, Senator Obama's plane at the time, full of aides and reporters, flew to Chicago and he sort of went out on his own to meet with Secretary Clinton. So these meetings can happen very quickly, Wolf.

We're not exactly sure when it will be, but we do know that they will meet and begin unifying the party. That's the big question here, how unified will this Democratic Party be. But, Wolf, there is no sign from Bernie Sanders that he wants to do anything other than help defeat Donald Trump. Now, that may come as a bit of a disappointment to some of his supporters, some of whom are not Democrats, they're independents, there are others. The Bernie or bust movement is alive and it's real. The question here is, will Senator Sanders send a signal to his supporters and will they follow him in terms of electing someone that he campaigned so hard to defeat, Wolf.

But these things have a way of working themselves out. That's why the Clinton campaign, Secretary Clinton herself, is giving Senator Sanders the space that he wants and needs. Remember, eight years ago, she did not give that speech we've talked about so often until the Saturday after the final round of voting. It wasn't immediate. So these things sometimes take a couple of days to unravel.

Wolf.

BLITZER: It certainly does. All right -- I remember that very, very vividly. And they want to certainly show Senator Sanders the respect that he deserves. He ran a very, very, very excellent campaign.

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: Not necessarily winning, obviously, but a very, very strong campaign.

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: A lot better than most people gave him credit for a year or so ago.

Stand by. We'll get back to you.

We're also standing by to hear from the White House. We'll get the White House reaction to this meeting that the president had with Senator Sanders. We'll have live coverage, the Briefing Room, you see that picture in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

In the meantime, as we await for the White House reaction, let's see what's going on with the Republicans, where the Republican National Committee has been playing a very prominent role today, trying to bring together the Trump campaign with very important Republican fundraisers. There are fears that some of that -- the big money donors could sit out this presidential race with deep concerns over Donald Trump. Those fears among some top Republicans.

Our politics reporter Jeremy Diamond is over at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan where this meeting just wrapped up.

Jeremy, pictures of Donald Trump moments ago leaving that meeting. Is Trump pitching himself to these donors? What's the latest you're hearing?

[13:25:00] JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, it certainly seems that way. You know, the campaign has been pretty mum as far as what exactly is going on behind closed doors here at the Four Seasons Hotel, but we do know that some power brokers were here today, folks who could be a bridge between Donald Trump, his campaign, which donors have been weary to get behind, and the kind of Republican establishment donor class. You know, chairman -- RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was in here. We're still waiting for him to come out. As well as Governor Chris Christie, who we also saw walking into this building.

Donald Trump was in there for about 35 minutes and then he walked out. He didn't make any comments to the press on his way in or out. But, of course, all of this comes, while in the background, Donald Trump is still kind of trying to reassure Republicans, nervous Republicans, after making some comments about the federal judge in his Trump University case, when Donald Trump accused, of course, of being biased against him because of his Mexican heritage. So certainly part of this meeting today was about reassuring donors, calming some frayed nerves perhaps and also building a pathway forward --

BLITZER: Jeremy, hold on for a moment. Jeremy, hold on. Hold on one second, Jeremy, because one of the press secretaries for Senator Sanders is briefing reporters right now. I want to quickly listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you that the president and Senator Sanders had a wide ranging discussion of important issues facing the working families of this country and how we can all work together to create an economy that works for all people and not just the one percent.

QUESTION: Did the president talk to him at all about when he might (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have any information beyond that, so --

QUESTION: He requested the meeting, Mike (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

QUESTION: Why was it important for Senator Sanders to meet with President Obama?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's been a good friend of the presidents and they -- they served together in the Senate. And he was interested in his input and thinks he's one of the smartest people he knows and is happy to have his good counsel, and got lots of that during a meeting that lasted for more than an hour.

QUESTION: Michael, (INAUDIBLE) --

QUESTION: Will the senator take questions at any point today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see. I hope so. We'll see.

QUESTION: And how's his mood?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's great. He's in a great mood. He's always in a great mood.

QUESTION: So he's coming back to Capitol Hill. He, of course, you know, still has a day job here. And if Democrats would win control of the Senate, he would have a very important job as chairmanship of a committee. Is he thinking about that now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to figure out what -- what comes next, what's -- what's in the future, yes, sure.

QUESTION: How does he -- what does he tell his supporters here who have urged him to stay in this race and fight to the convention? What and how will he address his supporter's concerns?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to be looking at some of the issues that he talked about this morning with the president and has been talking about on the campaign trail for the last year and a half and hopes that those are issues that get discussed at the Democratic Convention this summer, hopes that the Democrats welcome his supporters, the millions of people, young people and working families that he brought back into the process, into the party, and looking forward to that happening.

QUESTION: He has talked to -- he's --

(CROSS TALK)

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Hillary Clinton calling herself a Democratic nominee. The campaign hasn't really commented on it (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll stick with what he said.

QUESTION: What will Debbie Wasserman Schultz --

QUESTION: What would Senator Sanders do to encourage those, you know, very (INAUDIBLE) reporters yet in the effort to defeat Donald Trump? I mean will he --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he'll do everything he can to keep Donald Trump from becoming president. That would be terrible for our country. And that he believes that we all have an obligation to tell all the people in the country what they can -- what we can do to help working families and --

QUESTION: Does he have any plans to sort of use his e-mail list or call on his supporters to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're -- we're working on that, yes.

QUESTION: Working on that.

QUESTION: Michael, did Debbie Wasserman Schultz come up at all during the meeting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't in the meeting, so I don't -- I don't know.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pardon?

QUESTION: Did the president asked him to exit the race?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't in the meeting. I'm sorry.

QUESTION: Were there any specific asks (INAUDIBLE)? Did the senator bring any specific asks (ph) to the president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not that I can tell you about.

Thanks, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

ZELENY: And, Wolf, you -- you just heard --

BLITZER: All right, so there you have Michael Briggs (ph). He's the press secretary for Senator Sanders briefing reporters, not offering a whole lot of new information. Jeff Zeleny, we heard him asking some important questions.

Jeff, you're still with us there.

Michael Briggs, a very popular guy up on Capitol Hill, well known to all the journalists up there.

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: He's been very busy over these past -- this past year especially. But go ahead and update us. What did you -- what did you glean from that little exchange?

ZELENY: Wolf, Michael Briggs is his longtime communications director, a veteran here of Capitol Hill, and he did confirm that Senator Sanders will be meeting with Vice President Biden later this afternoon, which we reported earlier. He said that he had no meetings scheduled with Elizabeth Warren, another key senator here in Washington, and he had no meetings scheduled today at least with his rival, or almost former rival, the former secretary of state, presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton, Wolf.

But Michael Briggs talked about what Senator Sanders is going to do going forward and it really is so issue focused about how he is going to keep promoting these issues that he talked about throughout his campaign. And that's what animated his supporters so much. I did ask how he plans to sort of alert his supporters and his followers to the fact that he is no longer keeping his pledge to fight to the convention. And he said he will be in touch with them. He will talk to his supporters there, Wolf.

[13:30:03] But that is the key question here going after this. Bernie Sanders leaves with, you know, winning 22 states and, you know, 10 million votes at least. But what his supporters do here is key.