[John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] That chart tells you something is happening.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Yes, it tells you that someone is interested in that airline.
[Berman:] EARLY START continues right now. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
[Romans:] I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, April 4th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the east. Nice to see you back from vacation. Now just one day before voters head to the polls in Wisconsin, there is an intense battle going down to the wire between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Both of them campaigning across the state today. The latest poll show Cruz out front leading Trump by as much as ten points. Cruz picked up new key tactical victories over the weekend. In Colorado, he won the first six delegates to the Republican convention picked in a week long selection process. In North Dakota, the Cruz team claims they did well and packing that state's delegation to the convention, though, all North Dakota delegates are unbound. But today is all about Wisconsin where a Cruz win could alter the momentum the Republican race. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the very latest from Green Bay.
[Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Corresponent:] Good morning, Christine and John. The Cruz campaign had hit the ground hard here in Wisconsin. Dispatching Heidi Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Governor Scott Walker, all barnstorming the state this weekend. The Cruz campaign manager declaring an all hands on deck situation in the final 24 hours before voting starts in Wisconsin tomorrow. Cruz for his part, the senator has really been projecting confidence on the stump. He has been predicting that he will get most if not all of the state's delegates tomorrow night. On the stump here in Green Bay, he told the crowd really playing up the importance of this moment going forward saying that it is going to be a decision point that will resonate across the country beyond just here in Wisconsin. The senator also seemed to get a little reflective on the state of the race and all that has transpired.
[Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] This has been quite the election cycle. It hadn't been boring. There were all sorts of things a year ago someone had said you are going to see and you would say no, that will never happen.
[Serfaty:] There's a notable strategy shift coming from the Cruz campaign here in Wisconsin. They are out with their very first negative TV ad targeting John Kasich. This is a candidate that they have in large part attempted to marginalize throughout this campaign calling him point blank, a spoiler. So this focus on him in these last few hours here in Wisconsin certainly suggests some concern on their level about what role he might play tomorrow night Christine and John.
[Berman:] All right, Sunlen Serfaty for us in Green Bay. Let's us break down the fight for delegates on both sides. We are joined by senior digital politics correspondent, Chris Moody, who is in Washington this morning. Chris, I want to start in the Republican side of the race, this is a big moment for the Trump campaign. Donald Trump effectively could be if not derailed, at least stalled significantly on his quest for the Republican nomination. And you can tell the stakes are very high for him right now trailing Ted Cruz. It was unusual amount of vitriol coming from Donald Trump on the stump overnight toward Ted Cruz. Let's listen to what he said.
[Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Lying Ted Cruz. He comes in bible high. I'm lying Ted Cruz. I put the bible down and then I start to lie. He said dirty rotten cheat. Remember that.
[Berman:] You see Donald Trump right there. Those are words he has used before, but with a tone that sounded very harsh and coming at a time when a lot of people are saying Donald Trump had the worst week yet of his campaign Chris.
[Chris Moody, Cnn Senior Digital Politics Correspondent:] You are right, john. Wisconsin is going to be crucial and the reason is because now we're shifting from just winning and losing primaries to the real hard delegate game. Now looking at the map forward, we got New York coming up. Ted Cruz knows that in order to keep Donald Trump from getting the delegates. He needs to clinch the nomination. He needs to win big in Wisconsin and hold his number down as much as possible. Now we are not just seeing that on the campaign trail. Ted Cruz has also mounted a really aggressive behind the scenes effort to work the delegates system and work the convention system. He is playing some really high level chess here to work the pieces and try to make sure Donald Trump does not get that number. Because the belief is among the Republican establishment, if you can keep Donald Trump from clinching this nomination, he's not going to have the skills to win on the convention floor. Ted Cruz believes he's invested the time, money and resources and people to be able to do that if he can just get there. Wisconsin is a key piece of that puzzle strategy.
[Romans:] The governor of Wisconsin has endorsed Ted Cruz. Wisconsin has a well-informed electorate with higher voter turnout usually, and Republican base that is really directed by Scott Walker. It could be a tough formula for Trump to crack.
[Moody:] For many reasons. A lot of Wisconsin is the heart of the Republican establishment power right now. You have the head of the RNC, who remains officially not on anyone's side. The governor endorsing Cruz. You have Paul Ryan, the House speaker. So this could be a tough place for Donald Trump. Also Donald Trump's rhetoric as we have seen in the poll numbers, not just in Wisconsin, but nationwide, when you break it down by women or educated voters, in Wisconsin, you have to play nice in a way. You can't use as much vitriol as Trump has. We heard a couple of minutes ago, Trump is really throwing everything including the kitchen sink at everyone right now and that could really back fire on him come Tuesday.
[Berman:] You are talking about this complicated high level game the Cruz campaign is playing for delegates. The campaign is working right now, by the way. He is picking up these delegates that other people don't see out there. Republican Chairman Reince Priebus was asked about this notion of an open convention because there are people who say this is really an avenue where someone like Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney or Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio could get back in the game and end up for the nomination in a contested floor fight. Reince Priebus says not so fast. Listen.
[Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican National Committee:] Even if something like that were remotely possible, that candidate would actually have a floor operation and actual campaign going on with the delegates to make something like that possible. Paul's not going to do that. So, my answer is no, but clearly there's a lot of information out there that people are spreading around to cause a lot of confusion. But I think our candidate is someone who is running.
[Berman:] If he means that, if he means that our candidate is someone running, that is significant because that really does mean it's a choice between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump and maybe John Kasich.
[Moody:] Possibly, John Kasich. Now of course, there's been a lot of talk about that rule that a candidate has to win eight states in order to be considered. That rule can always be change before we get to the point where they would be voting. But in a way, Reince Priebus is right especially when it comes to the intensity of what a floor campaign would mean. Look, there will be hundreds of people that would need to be involved. If you were coming if like Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney, that you have to be working behind the scenes as quietly as possible. John, you know that would leak so fast if anyone even started hinting at doing that. But I think also, if it will be someone not named Trump, Cruz or Kasich and it's somebody who hasn't run. Can you imagine the outcry that there would be if someone had taken it from Trump, if he was close to 1,237, but someone that never stepped foot on the campaign trail. You would have some problems in Cleveland I think if that were the case. You would be hearing about it from all the candidates, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and John Kasich included.
[Romans:] Let's talk about the Democrats in the debate over the debate over whether the dates for the debates are logical or realistic. They are zeroing in on the important New York primary without another debate on the schedule. Let's listen to what they said. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sparring on the Sunday talk shows.
[Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I'm confident that there will be, but I'm not the one negotiating it. That's going on between our campaigns. I do know my campaign has been really trying to get a time that Senator Sanders' campaign would agree with.
[Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] I think what we want is to look at the maximum viewing audience and any time and venue that works that has that viewing audience will be good.
[Romans:] April 19th, 247 delegates. You think they are going to be able to debate again before then?
[Moody:] Let's set the stage here a little bit. Bernie Sanders has had an incredible run in the past couple weeks winning in the northwest, not just winning, but dominating there and coming in with a lot of the momentum going into Wisconsin. He's got a solid base of support in Madison. It looks like he could possibly win that state and then heading into the big battleground New York. Look, there is a lot of frustration early in the Democratic race from activists and progressive activists that the debates were getting sidelined. That their first were not enough and when there were debates, it was on some kind of high, holy holiday or a weekend or sometime when no one was watching. Bernie Sanders thinks he deserves the time right now because he's challenged Hillary Clinton. New York will be huge. You mention over 200 delegates. They want the exposure and they're calling for the debate. I think they will find the time to do it. Of course, the campaign trail schedule is very tight right now. But I do think this a response this frustration is a response to all of that pushing the debates to Saturday and Sunday. They want something as high profile as the Republicans have had almost this entire time.
[Berman:] Chris Moody for us, thank you so much. When you get into debates over debates, I think voters do not care the slightest bit.
[Moody:] They just want to see a debate.
[Romans:] He has a t-shirt that says no one loves
[Berman:] I love it, but this is always.
[Romans:] All right, Chris Moody, thanks. Talk to you in a few minutes. Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner trashes the U.S. economy, talks down stocks, and makes bold claims about the national debt, in an interview with "The Washington Post" published this weekend. First, Trump says he will erase the country's $19 trillion debt by the end of his second term as president, in just eight years just wipe it away, $19 trillion. The math doesn't work. That would require the U.S. to pay off more than $2 trillion a year. The entire annual budget is just under $4 trillion for the current fiscal year. Trump says he will renegotiate trade deals, which would increase economic growth and wipe away the debt. But most economists say those negotiations could start a trade war and cause a recession in the United States. Speaking of recessions, Trump says the country is headed for a, quote, "massive recession" and the U.S. economy is sitting on a bubble that will soon burst. Now experts put the chances of a, you know, garden variety recession in the next year at about 20 percent. Despite recent worries about the global economy, U.S. economic growth is steady. Job creation is strong. Americans are spending money again. His other big claim, it's a bad time to invest in the stock market. Global markets this morning unfazed by those comments. They are trading right now mostly higher. But you know, to get rid of that $19 trillion debt in just eight years, it would be really the only way you could do that is to hand every one of us a $55,000 bill and say pay your share of the national debt and that's how you could wipe it off.
[Berman:] It's 12 minutes after the hour. Two killed and dozens injured in a new Amtrak derailment. There is new information on the investigation this morning.