[Blackwell:] There have been several major terror attacks around the world since the start of the U.S. presidential campaign and candidates on both sides in the past several have offered different opinions on how to stop the spread of violent extremism. Now earlier this week, Ted Cruz advocated to push law enforcement to, quote, "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods." Hillary Clinton had this to say about that plan.
[Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] So when Republican candidates like Ted Cruz call for treating American Muslims like criminals and for racially profiling predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, it's wrong, it's counterproductive, it's dangerous.
[Blackwell:] All right. Let's discuss now and bring in Chad Sweet. He is Ted Cruz's campaign chairman. Chad, good to have you this morning.
[Chad Sweet, National Chairmain, Ted Cruz For President:] Thank you, Victor. Good to be with you.
[Blackwell:] So Secretary Clinton says that it makes Muslims feel like criminals. Why is she wrong?
[Sweet:] Well, she's wrong on multiple levels and I can tell you this not just in theory but in practice. When I was formally chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, I was personally involved with the actual counter radicalization programs that we worked with the Muslim community with. And the leaders of the Muslim community actually want visible and active engagement by law enforcement in their communities, why, because they are the most at risk. And it's actually
[Blackwell:] But engagement is not patrolling. Patrolling, I think when people have a visual image of patrolling. It is a uniform person pacing up and down through communities. What would this patrol look like?
[Sweet:] The senator, if you go back and look at the quote from the campaign, it was not only patrol and secure the communities and what the senator is calling for is actual visible and active law enforcement engagement. Some of that is actual patrolling. It's not dissimilar to what we see across the country where police departments are engaged in what's called community policing. This is a tactic and technique used throughout this country in dealing with organized crime, drug gangs, et cetera. So that is part of it. The other part of it is the softer engagement with the community in terms of partnering with the community to identify suspicious behavior and try to engage early to help at risk kids. And again, these children, a lot of the kids of the Muslim community are being preyed upon by these extremists and radicalized online and frankly, many of the plots that I was involved with, which were disrupted were disrupted precisely because of that engagement with the Muslim community.
[Blackwell:] Engagement, yes, but part of the plan, just so I'm hearing you correctly, is to have uniformed officers walking the beat in Muslim neighborhoods.
[Sweet:] It's the full it's the full spectrum, Victor. Some of that is involving visible presence. That's happening right now. For example, in New York City, is a common practice that times of heightened alert that you will see multiple police cruisers operating in the neighborhood. That would take place if there was a period of heightened criminal activity around gang violence you would that in a community. But again, Senator Cruz is committed to not vowing to political correctness in order to address this problem. And I will tell you, part of what we're seeing in Europe is a function of an unwillingness to the law enforcement community to be visibly engaged in those communities. I know this because we used to work with Europeans on this very issue. And I can tell you personally, it is a big problem there and if we want to prevent that from coming to our shores, we have to be willing to not bow to political correctness. We have to actively engage in those communities and not do what Mayor De Blasio did which is shut down practical and effective programs in counter radicalization. That kind of political correctness is making this country more vulnerable and that's what Senator Cruz is trying to prevent.
[Blackwell:] Chad, let me ask you about another issue this week Senator Cruz addressed the tabloid allegations having not been asked about them by reporters and he blamed them on, quote, or he said it was a smear. This is a quote, "A smear from Donald Trump and his henchmen." What evidence does the campaign have to support that Donald Trump or his quoteunquote "henchmen" planted this?
[Sweet:] Well, the evidence is clear and regrettably the quote in the actual article comes from Roger Stone. Roger Stone used to work and advice Mr. Trump. Now he has left the campaign on a mission to go do exactly what he does, which is he's a former Nixon aide, who is known for being a master of the dark arts of the dirty tricks. And his engagement with the "National Inquirer," which by the way, the "National Inquirer" has become an organ of the Trump organization, has endorsed Donald Trump, and if you look at, again, the pattern, don't take my word for it. Your viewers know when Donald Trump tweeted that he was going to, quote, "spill the beans on the senator's wife," who is the god mother to my children, I can tell you that that kind of behavior is outrageous. But then what do we see exactly after Donald Trump tweeted that? Outcomes this article from the "Inquirer" and guess what? Who is the source? Roger Stone, one of Donald Trump's former advisors. So the pattern is clear. And again, the question is how low will Donald Trump go to effectively avoid engaging Senator Cruz on policy issues and instead try to distract voters into the gutter on issues that aren't solving any problems that our country faces.
[Blackwell:] Donald Trump has said and there is a statement that came up to the campaign that he had nothing to do it, didn't know about it and didn't even read the article at the time of releasing that statement. So having said that, we'll of course reach out to Roger Stone, who has been interviewed on this network several times and you mentioned discussing issues. This was something that Ted Cruz introduced at that news conference, no reporter had asked him about it so if he would rather speak about national security fighting ISIS, why did he bring it up?
[Sweet:] Well, we'll see, we don't stand back and take hits. The senator has every right as stories being viciously circulated to respond and respond vigorously. I think at the end of the day, what is important, though, is you will see us pivoting and focusing on the issues that matter to the voters. Every minute that we are spending wasting our time discussing this kind of garbage isn't helping another American get a job. It's not helping increase take home pay for the voters and it's not securing our borders. Victor, your fundamental point is a good one, which is the senator is going to vigorously defend himself, but he is not be going to be distracted from addressing those court solutions that he's providing and set before the voters that they need to evaluate.
[Blackwell:] All right, let's wrap it here then. Chad Sweet, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
[Sweet:] Thank you, Victor.
[Blackwell:] All right, coming up on Tuesday, we'll discuss those issues with Ted Cruz and John Kasich and Donald Trump at CNN's Milwaukee Republican Presidential Town Hall at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on
[Cnn. Paul:] This hour, we'll hear from John Kasich's campaign and let's talk about the opposite side of the spectrum there, Democratic side Bernie Sanders expected to win Hawaii, Alaska and Washington in today's Democratic caucuses. What if he doesn't pull through? A surrogate for Bernie Sanders will be here talking those 142 delegates, some say may not sound like a lot, but it could really help or hurt Hillary Clinton perhaps? We'll have a look at what's expected today. Stay close.